Sparkly Shoes

Last Tuesday we went to the shoe store to buy Ainsley a bigger pair of tap shoes. Her shoes from last year were getting too tight. We went to Payless where they sell ballet and tap shoes and I realized they were having their BOGO sale. (Buy one get one half off) I also realized that it was October and the only pair of church shoes that Ainsley had was her white sandals. I thought this would be a great time to get a pair of winter church shoes (half off). So I picked out several black pair. The first two slipped on her heel. The last pair looked like it fit pretty well. BUT then she saw these. And they are Disney princess shoes and they SPARKLE. So I humored her and let her try them on. She walked proudly down the aisle exclaiming, "These don't slip, they don't slip" Then I tried to use logic - "Ainsley these won't match very many of your dresses." And then some divine intervention - ok maybe marketing intervention - but none the less, a worker was shelving shoes nearby. She told me that kid's shoes was her department. She used to LOVE it but now she HATED it. She said she has seen way too many little girls leave the store crying. She said she just wants to remind all those moms out there about when they were little girls - what kind of shoes would they have picked out? Sparkly ones probably. And you know what? - She's right! And then I got to thinking - If someone picked out everything I wore each day or whenever we went to the store, would I like that? And what if I liked something else? And I've seen a lot of moms that have to have their kids dressed just so. But what if their kid would feel so much prettier or so much more confident if they wore sparkly shoes instead of perfectly stylish adult looking stuff? If Ainsley feels beautiful in her sparkly shoes, then so what if she wears them with a blue dress or a peach one (the color dresses we have right now)? Maybe I need to buy dresses to match her much loved shoes instead of shoes to match the dresses. I'm not going to let what I think other people might think about me and how I dress my daughter affect how she feels about herself and what she feels beautiful in.

I will continue to try to teach my kids about matching. My boys love to dress mono chromatically especially in unmatching reds. I will insist they wear collared shirts for picture day at school and I WILL choose their clothes for family pictures. But that's where it stops. I will advise but they will choose. And so Ainsley chose these hot pink sparkly shoes and she has proudly worn them to school and church. (Incidentally, her sneakers she picked for school this year are also bright pink and glittery) She feels beautiful and her spirit is bright.