She wears them all. the. time.
iPhone photo courtesy of Myles, who takes photos of everything in our house.
About a year and a half ago, my mom found these cute, blue, sparkly shoes at a thrift store. Sydney took to them right away, but they were a little big at the time, so we tucked them away for later. This past spring, when I was desperate to break Sydney from wearing her "kitty boots" everyday, we got out the blue sparkly shoes. They had straps at the time, and were in great shape, and super cute. She's worn them pretty much everyday since. For awhile, one had a strap and the other didn't, which didn't deter her from wearing them. We were waiting for the lost strap to show up again so we could reattach it, but gave up the search and Daddy finally took the second strap off. Sometimes I suggest wearing other shoes; that's not pretty. Once we lost one blue shoe, but instead of wearing another pair altogether, Sydney said, "I think one blue shoe and one flower shoe will be good." And off we went with mismatched shoes.
It's time to retire the blue shoes. I wish I would have thought through a strategic plan on how to do it, but that would've been too organized for me. Instead, one day while driving with Sydney, I just blurted out, "Sydney, it's time to get rid of your blue shoes. Why don't we donate them today to kids who don't have shoes and go get you some different ones?" I regretted it even before I was done talking. Just because someone doesn't have shoes doesn't mean they don't deserve the very best shoes, not our old, crappy ones. I tried to downplay it, but this kid has THE BEST MEMORY!
So now, several weeks later, she will randomly ask, "Mom, do I have to give my shoes to kids that don't have shoes?" We've had the conversation several times now about how some people can't afford to buy new shoes, so we can donate some, but not her blue shoes because they are too worn out. She's relieved when I get to the part about her not having to relinquish her blue shoes. She then asks what we are going to do with her blue shoes. Oh, I don't know, THROW THEM AWAY NEVER TO BE SEEN AGAIN! That's what I think in my head, of course I don't tell my sweet three-year-old that. (And in reality, I probably won't be able to throw them out. I'll have to keep them to share the memory with her in later years.)
This kid.
While I'm on the subject, I would be remiss not to highlight some of her other quirks.
Her hair. She won't let me "do" it. No clips, ponytails, headbands, bows. Nothing. She won't get it cut either. We've talked about that A LOT. She went with my mom and watched other people get their hair cut. She came with me to Ryker's haircut. She came with me to my haircut. Nope, not gonna do it.
Her clothes. Oh my, her outfit choices. We let her pick out her own clothes as long as they meet some minimum standards. I try to help guide her, but in the end, it really is all her. Although she is rarely in a coordinating outfit, it is hard to deny her this privilege when she often says things like, "Look, Mom, do you love my outfit?" or "Do you think this is beautiful, Dad?"
Like all kids, Sydney is unique. She is persistent, fiery, strong-willed, sweet, loving, smart, caring, shy and everything else that makes her, her. She knows what she wants. Yes, I wish she would let me put her hair up, and I would love to dress her in the cute outfits I imagined when I found out I was having a girl. But nurturing her unique personality is so much more important to me than battling with her to fit into the mold I imagined. I look at her blue shoes, wild hair, and crazy outfits and love the little person she is becoming.
It's time to retire the blue shoes. I wish I would have thought through a strategic plan on how to do it, but that would've been too organized for me. Instead, one day while driving with Sydney, I just blurted out, "Sydney, it's time to get rid of your blue shoes. Why don't we donate them today to kids who don't have shoes and go get you some different ones?" I regretted it even before I was done talking. Just because someone doesn't have shoes doesn't mean they don't deserve the very best shoes, not our old, crappy ones. I tried to downplay it, but this kid has THE BEST MEMORY!
So now, several weeks later, she will randomly ask, "Mom, do I have to give my shoes to kids that don't have shoes?" We've had the conversation several times now about how some people can't afford to buy new shoes, so we can donate some, but not her blue shoes because they are too worn out. She's relieved when I get to the part about her not having to relinquish her blue shoes. She then asks what we are going to do with her blue shoes. Oh, I don't know, THROW THEM AWAY NEVER TO BE SEEN AGAIN! That's what I think in my head, of course I don't tell my sweet three-year-old that. (And in reality, I probably won't be able to throw them out. I'll have to keep them to share the memory with her in later years.)
This kid.
While I'm on the subject, I would be remiss not to highlight some of her other quirks.
Her hair. She won't let me "do" it. No clips, ponytails, headbands, bows. Nothing. She won't get it cut either. We've talked about that A LOT. She went with my mom and watched other people get their hair cut. She came with me to Ryker's haircut. She came with me to my haircut. Nope, not gonna do it.
Her clothes. Oh my, her outfit choices. We let her pick out her own clothes as long as they meet some minimum standards. I try to help guide her, but in the end, it really is all her. Although she is rarely in a coordinating outfit, it is hard to deny her this privilege when she often says things like, "Look, Mom, do you love my outfit?" or "Do you think this is beautiful, Dad?"
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