Undone By Shoes

Hello, my name is Kate, and I have a shoe problem. No, no, no – it’s not at all what you’re thinking. I can easily walk into a shoe store and walk out with every single penny still in my bank account. In fact, I would much rather not have to buy shoes at all, if truth be told (perhaps this is why I have been using the same, often repaired Birkenstocks for well over a decade). Not that I don’t have a genuine adoration for my dark chocolate, knee-high leather boots and my midnight black, clunky Mary Janes, but I have no real desire to own a pair of Manolos (artistically beautiful as they are), and I would much rather have funky gumboots cluttering my closet than anything else.

Shoe artist Manolo Blahnik, photographer unknown.

And yet. While I may differ from the vast majority of my female friends (and perhaps a few of the males?)  in my lack of fascination with ladies shoes, I do have one foot fetish, of sorts. My Achilles heel, as it were. (Okay, I have two, actually – one of which is receiving peppermint cream foot massages. But that’s not the one I’m getting at here.) This morning, as I was sorting through my son’s baby things, trying to figure out what to keep and what to donate, I was overcome with an overwhelming heartache…for his shoes. So tiny. So precious. So impractical, really. But all at once, I finally understood the whole “bronzing of the baby shoes” thing.

Our son seems pretty thrilled with his first pair of wee Converse, a gift from his super cool Auntie.

I mean, come ON! Aren’t those the cutest little shoes you’ve ever seen? No? Hmm. Well, what about these, then?

My friend Fee’s son’s Crocs – made to look like CROCODILES!!!

Isn’t that just about the greatest thing ever?!?! No? Is it just me? Really? Well, it must be a “mom thing” then, as I know I am not alone in my tiny obsession. However, as I do not wish to end up on a future episode of Hoarders, I recognize that I need to start getting rid of some of our baby things – even the adorable little shoes. But what do you do when you can’t bear to part with something that you absolutely have to part with? Well, in my world, you photograph it.

Baby shoes from both of my sons’ collections.

As you can see, we have acquired quite a collection of baby footwear through either gift, donation, or impulse purchase over the years. While my youngest has outgrown most of these, we are actually getting some not-just-for-decoration usage out of a few of them still. When the time comes, I think I will allow myself to keep the monkey slippers and maybe one other pair, and then pass the rest on for somebody else to enjoy. Because in my opinion, beautiful things need to be shared. 😉