Today we went shoe shopping. I wanted to get Michaela some shoes with velcro. The shoes she had now were an old pair of Abigail’s, and they tie with laces – from the days when I had only one child in shoes and it was easy for me to take the time to tie laces. But it would be good for her – and for me – if she could put on her shoes by herself.
So we went to the store. The best ones that fit her also had big pink plastic hearts on the side that lit up when she jumped. Michaela liked them a lot.
When we came home, I felt guilty for buying new shoes. I realized that I should have first checked the stock of Abigail’s old shoes in the closet. In stacks of original boxes on the closet shelf, I’ve saved all of Abigail’s shoes so that her younger sisters can wear them. As I took out Abigail’s old shoes and tried them on Michaela’s feet, I received a revelation: both girls now have nearly the same size feet. She couldn’t wear her sister’s old shoes even if she wanted to. The new shoes Michaela got today are size 10, and the shoes Abigail wears now are a 10 and 1/2. They are 27 months apart in age, but nearly the same size foot. Already they share some of the same size clothes – like panties and some shirts – but this shoe revelation was still a little surprise to me.
Abigail though probably has Ted’s feet. Ted wears a men’s 7 to 8. I am an inch or so taller than Ted but I wear a women’s 10, a men’s 9 or so. I have had large feet as long as I can remember. Doctors predicted I would be six feet tall or so, based on my parents heights and my own big feet, but I never made it past 5’7″. But this height is just fine for me – otherwise I’d be too tall for Ted!
Abigail’s feet seem to grow in increments, slowly, one size or so a year right now, while Michaela’s burst out of her sneakers. She had been having problems with blisters, but she’s had blister problems for years, ever since she graduated from baby shoes, even when Nordstrom’s fitted her twice last spring in Stride Rites. I feel badly – maybe it is Second Child Syndrome – but I feel that I watched Abigail’s feet much better, when she was younger, getting her new shoes every half-size or so, while, by the time I get Michaela new shoes, she’s skipped a next few sizes.
At the store, Abigail had gotten a pair of Mary Janes for the fall, also found on the rack. But I didn’t realize that Michaela could wear them too! This afternoon at home, the girls made mismatched pairs, each wearing one of the other’s new shoes, delighting in their new knowledge.
This truth changes my shoe strategy too. I have always thought that shoes I was buying for Abigail would be worn by both Michaela and Elisabeth. When I think I am buying for 3, it helps me feel more thrifty! But now at least for a while, I will be buying the same size shoes for two at a time! Elisabeth will get a great selection; she’ll be the one to get a big benefit!
From time to time, especially when I’m out shopping, people ask me if I have twins. I don’t think my oldest two look that much alike – in size or age. Perhaps it seems that with three, I have so many kids, I must have had a multiple birth! But now I can tell people that Abigail and Michaela have twin soles 🙂 … and I do hope and pray that these sisters grow up sharing much more than shoes…
