If the Shoe Fits...

Since the Bear is pretty much a full-time walker now, my wife and I thought it was about time we bought her a pair of shoes.  She started taking a few steps here and there a few months ago and usually made it about two feet until she fell over.  Now, however, she hardly ever crawls anymore and, for the most part, walks whenever she wants to get around. Yes, she still falls (a lot), but she is getting more comfortable--and faster--each day. I remember when she was just a few months old and I would say that I couldn't wait until she started walking. I regret that. Now, I spend about 90% of my day following around a tiny human who seems to disregard all social conventions when it comes to walking in a straight line and has no regard for who (the dogs) or what (walls and furniture) she walks in to. Regardless, it is amazing to watch her grow more confident every day with her newfound abilities. She embraces walking with a fervor that most adults, who've been walking for years, seem to take for granted. Sometimes, she'll hold her arms straight up in the air as she walks. She's either doing a 'V' for victory to celebrate her accomplishment or she's using some new balancing technique that only toddlers know about.

The Bear absolutely loves walking, so much so that I secretly wish she'd just take a break every once in a while and sit. Even for five minutes. But, no. She walks all the time. She must take half a million steps a day, and that's a conservative estimate; I might even put a pedometer on her as a baby science experiment just to confirm my hypothesis. If there weren't the walls of our house keeping her contained, I'm convinced she'd walk until she passed out from exhaustion. Her incessant walking kind of reminds me of Forrest Gump when he ran across the country a bunch of times just for the hell of it. I bet if I asked the Bear her thoughts on the matter, (and if the Bear could talk, of course), she'd reply, "I...was...waaaaaaaaaalking." God help me when she starts running or climbing stairs. I'm not ready for that, from an emotional or stamina standpoint. But, alas, I'm not one to stand in the way of her evolution as a mobile being. She loves walking and she's getting so good at it. Plus, it's really awesome to watch her grow up, even if it's happening a little too fast for my liking. I love being able to watch her development on a daily basis.

Up until now, the Bear has gone au natural and walked barefoot or with socks on. But that won't cut it for walking around the backyard or at the park, which we go to quite often. So, since she seems intent on this whole walking to get around thing, we decided it was time to get some appropriate footwear. Now, there are two things to consider when buying a one-year-old shoes: where to get them and what kind to get. I suggested we get her some sweet Chuck Taylors from Foot Locker. She'd instantly earn some style points and street cred. My wife politely told me she doesn't need to be cool or impress anyone with her sneakers. She's one, the only people she knows are us, and she doesn't even know what a Chuck Taylor is. I played the 'cool' card, saying how hilarious and awesome she'd look. My wife played the 'I'm in charge' card and simply said, "No." Oh. She suggested getting practical sneakers from Stride Rite that would help her get traction on all different kinds of surfaces. I threw in one final protest: "She's my daughter, too, and I think I have a say in what kind of shoes she wears."

Nonetheless, we went to Stride Rite to pick out a pair of functional, affordable, and conservative sneakers, despite my continued and adamant protests with my whole-hearted approval.

I think I got my first pair of shoes from a Stride Rite 30 years ago. When we arrived at the store, I was shocked Stride Rite was still in business. I guess they're like the K-Mart of shoe stores: you know they exist but are genuinely surprised anyone actually goes in there enough to keep the business open. Well, apparently, the kids' shoe business is booming because Stride Rite was packed. Kids and parents everywhere. Tiny shoes pulled from the shelves strewn all over the floor of the showroom, like fallen soldiers on a battlefield. Food crumbs littered the remaining floor space. The store looked like my house the morning after a keg party I used to throw in college.

A very accommodating (and calm, given the environment in which he worked) associate named Paul came up to us right away and asked if we needed help. We said we were in the market for shoes. He deftly measured the Bear's feet with ease and quickness. This was astounding to me because when I tried to measure her feet using the Pediped app on my iPad, trying to get her feet still enough for long enough to do the measurement was like trying to nail Jell-O to a tree. She must've greased up her legs beforehand. When I got kicked in the chin at one point, I gave up and deleted the app. I guess there are just some things that should be left to the professionals.

With her feet measured, we then went to pick out the perfect pair of shoes. The selection was amazing. I never would have guessed the sheer volume of options there are for kids' shoes; I counted something like 30 different shoes. And those were just in our size range. It was actually overwhelming. What's more astonishing, though, is that major shoe companies now make kids' shoes.  Very expensive shoes, too; I don't think I saw a pair for under $40. For kids' shoes! They must be made of elephant tusks. I saw shoes from Adidas, New Balance, Saucony, Uggs, and probably five other brands that I'm sure are popular and trendy but I've never heard of. I'm not positive, but I'd be willing to bet my first ten pairs of shoes were Keds. And now New Balance is in the kids' shoes game? Crazy. I also looked at a pair of tiny boat shoes by Sperry. Yes, they make Sperry's for kids now, because they do so much boating I guess. Finally, after careful consideration, we settled on the this pair:

They're not Chuck Taylors, but they might be the cutest pair of shoes I've ever seen. Frikkin' adorable.

It was time to try the shoes on. With me holding the Bear, my wife tried to put the first shoe on. The result was essentially baby Armageddon. Screams. Tears. Flailing arms and legs. She even did this new thing where she violently throws her head back while the rest of her body goes completely limp. Judging from the screams that echoed throughout the store, you'd have thought we were trying to cut our daughter's feet off. Passersby and other shoppers probably thought we were torturing her with some kind of sick shoe ritual. I'm truly surprised no one called child services to report us. As we grew increasingly more panicked and seriously thought about giving up the shoe dream and letting our daughter go through life barefoot, Paul the sales associate/baby whisperer stepped in and had both shoes on in the blink of an eye. He never batted an eye during the whole process. Dude's a pro.

With the shoes on, we put the Bear down so she could take them for a test drive. This was what transpired:

No joke, she stood like that for like three full minutes. Not one step. What's weird about her not walking in the store is that my wife and I know she can walk. We've seen her walk. Other people have seen her walk. I've personally chased her around for hours as she embarked on aimless walking tours of our house. By not walking, I assume she was just exercising her right to a wordless protest in opposition to the tyranny that is shoe-wearing. First Amendment, yo. Paul probably thought we were crazy buying sneakers for a child who can't walk.

We decided to buy the shoes anyway, thinking the Bear might've just been scared or overwhelmed in such a hectic environment. We paid for the shoes, thanked Paul for all his help, and headed home.

Things at home were very different than the chaos at Stride Rite. We put the Bear's new sneakers on again, this time with much more ease. Although, that was probably because she was still sleeping in her car seat when we did it. Hey, I take great pride in outsmarting a one-year-old. The Bear awoke and we put her in the 'walking position;' that is, we put her on the ground. Once on the ground, the Bear was off and walking. No hesitancy whatsoever. She did a few laps in her new kicks, getting more and more used to them each minute. At first, she walked like she was wearing flippers and kept looking down at her feet, wondering how, why, and when they got so heavy and flowery. After a few laps, it was if she'd been wearing sneakers all her life. Totally smooth, confident, and natural.

Now, the Bear wears her sneakers everywhere, including when she wreaks havoc on Story Hour at the local library:

Buying the Bear her first pair of sneakers was a fun and interesting experience. Not only was I exposed to a whole new world of child fashion I didn't know existed, but my eyes were ultimately, and more importantly, opened to the fact that my little Bear is growing up right before me. It's an exciting, humbling, and amazing experience. I'm just happy to be along for the ride.

I can tell you this, however. When it comes time to buy the Bear's first pair of underwear, I'll let my wife handle it.