At first I fought the wearing of The Princess Shoes. She wanted to wear them all the time, everywhere we went. She would cry when I forced them off of her made her wear her flip flops or crocs. She wanted her Princess Shoes, or sandals, as she sometimes calls them. It was a struggle every day when I got her dressed. She was very demanding and it got to be too difficult to fight, so eventually I gave up and let her wear them to day care – as long as I could slip a pair of regular shoes in her backpack for outside play. What harm was there really? She got to feel pretty and it got us through the morning routine without a fight.
One morning, as I sat on the edge of her bed to gently wake her up and get my morning hugs, she looked down at my feet. “Mommy, you wearing your sandals!” she exclaimed. “I wear my sandals!” she said, as she scampered off to find another pair of mismatched Princess Shoes (because when you have 5 different colored pairs you just have to mix them up).
It finally dawned on me that she was equating her Princess Shoes to my own strappy wedge sandals that I love to wear. I may not be a girly-girl, but when I wear those sandals, it does change the way I feel. I carry myself differently, hold my head a little higher. And when I pair them with a skirt, I may even feel a little bit pretty. Yes, shoes can be magical, can’t they?
The Princess Shoes are pretty much a staple of her wardrobe these days. She almost always insists on pairing them with a skirt, because you just can’t wear pants or shorts with Princess Shoes. I’ve gotten used to the clip-clop-clip-clop sound that they make on the hard floor. She walks amazingly well in the little heeled shoes that are nearly double the length of her feet.
Someday those little feet will outgrow the Princess Shoes and move on to strappy sandals and prom dresses, or maybe some Chucks and blue jeans, and I’ll only have faint memories of the clip-clop-clip-clop running through my house. As much as I love watching her grow up, I wish I could just bottle it all and save it for a rainy day. This age is just so fun and unpredictable.
One thing I know for sure though, every girl needs a pair of Princess Shoes.
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