New Sneakers

Took Lastborn out to buy new sneakers. He is very hard on his shoes and runs through a pair in just weeks. This time, I decided to spend a little more and get the sturdiest I could find. My hope is that if his feet are comfortable, he will move more.

So off we went, to the new Shoe Department near the mall. He was bored at first and wandering around the store. This is a big stage for him because I have decided no more Velcro. The ones with Velcro are just too flimsy and he is lazy, so he doesn't keep the straps tight. He tends to break down the shoe because he wears them too loosely. He understands shoe tying on an intellectual level only. So I have been putting this off for my convenience. We have a week and a half to teach him how to tie reliably.

The real thing I love about shoe buying is getting those great new shoes on. When they fit right, and they are new, you feel so strong. It took a couple of pairs to get him to that point. He has wide feet. So he can be hard to fit, but we found a couple of pairs of 3.5 wide and he was in business; running all over the store. It's fun to watch, because it's how I feel when I put on a new pair of sneakers. But as an adult (and a large one) I'm not supposed to run around the store with glee when I put on new sneakers.

So, I let him do it. There were no other shoppers and the employees seemed to think it was funny. And best of all, he didn't run into anything!!!

On the way home, he figured out how to tie them on his own. He's not reliable with it, but we have moved from theoretical to practical here. It's a big step towards reliable.