Grass Between My Toes

     Where have I gone wrong?  Joshua won't go outside without his shoes on.  I used to run down the driveway barefoot to get the mail... and my driveway was a quarter mile long and covered in sharp rocks.  Now my kid can't take the feeling of a hot deck on his little toes?  That's okay, someone invented Crocs.  Finally a shoe that can be slipped on without a mother's help. This is particularly convenient if you stop by a Mc Donald's playground.
     Right now Joshua has four pairs of shoes.  I'm not saying he's got more than me, but for someone whose shoe size changes every few months, that seems like quite a few.  He's got sneakers, sandles, Crocs and rain boots.  Just what we need in the morning- more decisions to make.  This is harder than you might think, "Do you want sandals, Crocs, sneakers or boots?" is often answered with a "No".  In general though, after saying No, Joshua usually decides on whatever your first option was.
    The fact that Joshua has rain boots is completely irrelevant.  Why is it that he needs to jump in puddles when he's wearing his suede sneakers?  I suppose that's better than Liam who I actually caught using his rain boots as buckets.
     It would be worse, wouldn't it, if we had two daughters?  Don't they have to own a variety of sandals, dress shoes, sneakers and more?  So I guess I shouldn't be complaining too much.  And we haven't yet gotten into sports that need their own unique shoes yet either.  But still, I was a little put off when Liam, who has sneakers, Crocs, slippers, Merrells and rain boots (that match Joshua's), said "Mommy, when will you buy me sandals?" 
     Of course, our family's favorite pair of sneakers were Joshua's Squeakers.  Not that we'll ever buy them again, but they were our favorites.  I found them at a local discount store, they were wide enough for the feet he inherited from his daddy, and they were very cute too.  Plus they were more than half off and I love a good sale.  We bought them when Joshua was just about to start walking last spring, but didn't yet want to.  For some reason, I was highly motivated to get him walking so we tried the shoes. They were an immediate hit.  Within a week he was walking full time, within two weeks he was running.  But that's not why they were our favorite.  Before the Squeakers, Joshua kept mostly to himself and to us.  He was happy to save his smiles for his Mommy, Daddy and Liam.  Once he got those sneakers, he wanted to walk everywhere.  And everywhere he walked, there was squeaking. So wherever we went, Joshua attracted attention and smiles and he started to just eat it up. By the end of the summer, he was strutting around in public places waving and smiling to anyone who happened be looking. 
     None of Joshua's sneakers squeak.  Not his rain boots, his sandals, his sneakers or his Crocs.  But he still waves to anyone who happens to be looking.  Something tells me though that if I go back to that discount store to see if they have Squeakers in Liam's size, it just might be more annoying than cute.  Perhaps I could find him some light up sandals.  On second thought, next time he asks, I think I'll just suggest he go barefoot.  Afterall, that's what I did when I was his age!