The Foot Post

"Left foot, right foot, feet, feet, feet!

How many, many feet you meet!"

-The Foot Book, Dr Seuss

(I dedicate this post to my friend, Katie, who hates feet so much that she has been known to wear two pairs of socks just to increase the barrier between her and her feet).

There is major foot drama in my family.

It begins with me.

And since it begins with me, I should have nothing but empathy for the foot drama of my children, and yet.. I find myself incredibly frustrated with their shoe-related issues.

I have always had a hard time finding shoes that fit. I have wide feet, high arches, and toes so long, you could easily mistake me for a primate. When I do find shoes that fit, it's rare for them to not still hurt in some way. If I want to wear anything other than flip-flops or athletic shoes, I have to buy them about two sizes too big. It's frustrating. My feet are always uncomfortable, and I'm worried this will have a long-term affect on my spine.

{via}

Since I chose to have biological children, I think I've passed on my foot problems to them. All of them.

It started with Nicky. I knew early on that he had wide feet. As a toddler, he always had issues with his shoes. Now, at age 8 (later this month), he does much better with his shoes. It helps that he has the vocabulary to tell me exactly what his problems are.

Then there's Zoe (age 2), who is also full of foot drama. I can't get her to wear shoes. Period. Part of that is probably the age, but I don't have a lot of hope that this will change... ever! I have a hard time sizing her feet as well and have to buy her anywhere between a toddler 5 and 7 depending on how wide the shoe is.

Daisy (age 5), though, is my biggest shoe challenge. As we're transitioning into winter, I've been trying to get her to wear shoes and socks instead of flip-flops or sandals, and Oi! She is killing me. She has some sensory issues. For example, she is fanatical about her ears! If you so much as graze her ear with your finger while combing her hair, she goes ballistic! (Can you imagine this child at the pediatrician's office when the doctor wants to look in her ears? It takes three of us to hold her down) ( And don't even get me started on how hard it is to comb her hair!)  This extends to her clothing, so I'm always having to return clothes that she won't wear because they "feel weird." She struggles with socks because of the seams, and she feels too constricted, so she is always "totally freaking out" (as Peg would say) when she has socks on. She hates real shoes - I don't know if the shoe problems are a combination of inheriting genetically crappy feet and having sensory issues, or if it's one or the other, but I don't know what to do about it. I can't find a pair of shoes to get her through the winter. She has a pair of cowgirl boots that she seems willing to wear, but somehow a piece of gum got stick inside one of them, and even though I got it out, she remembers that it was there, and she won't wear the boots because of it.

Sigh...

I try not to complain about winter too much (I'm more of a summer complainer) (plus, experiencing winter is what makes spring so beautiful), but of my ten minor winter complaints (i.e. the abundance of winter clothing building up by my back door, the threat of sickness around every corner, etc), shoe drama is high on the list! Summer, at least, gives me a break from these woes. I must add this to my mental file titled, "Reasons To Not Hate Summer."