Shoes, shoes, shoes!

Shoe obsessed?  Not me, just the rest of my family.  Don't get me wrong, I can admire a beautiful pair of shoes almost as much as the next girl, but comfort overrules fashion and I cannot stomach the thought of dropping a whole paycheck on one pair.  When it comes to my shoes I love my slides and prefer flats over heels, although I still have a collection of heels from my working days but rarely wear them.  I prefer running around barefoot the majority of the time, this is So Cal after all!  The rest of the family however, well, they love shoes enough to make up for me.

Mister Vonkysmeed seems to always be buying new shoes although some of that may be due to the fact that he is incredibly tough on them.  He does have quite a bit more pairs than I do and I am constantly tripping over a variety of shoes that have been left out.  Once they are all worn out and tired looking it is like pulling teeth to get him to part with them.  Often they go to the garage to serve as footgear whilst doing home or car repair before finally making their way to the landfill in the sky.  I honestly don't understand the attachment!  The Momster-in-Law told me a story once about a certain pair of red high heels of hers that he loved so much he hid them in his hamper, repeatedly.  Fortunately for me he seems to have outgrown this  particular attraction to women's shoes!

Our Lil' Miss and Destructo-boy take after their daddy in this regard, both are just as crazy about shoes as he is.  Lil' Miss loves to pick out her shoes each day, often making the most imaginative sock/shoe/clothing combinations (I swear that kid is a walking rainbow of clashing shades some days!).  And boy does she love to shop for shoes!  It started pretty young, around 18 months if I had to guess, whenever we went out to get her new shoes we had to leave the new pair on her feet or else she would protest loudly at their removal, just let it be, after all they were being purchased for her!  Nowadays the crying has given way to whining, especially when we decide against a pair of shoes.  Now if I could just get her to take better care of the shoes she has as she is almost as tough on them as her daddy!  Destructo-boy, well, he is another story altogether...

If you make the mistake of entering our home and removing your shoes don't expect them to be there when you go to leave.  Destructo-boy loves shoes, all kinds of shoes be they big, little, men's, women's it doesn't matter to my boy.  He'll put them on wherever he finds them and then go running waddling off with them barely on his feet.  Both Lil' Miss and I have to remember to always close our closet doors or else return to find our shoes scattered all over the house;  although it seems to be more of a problem with hers than with mine, especially the silver sparkly ones she wore for the holidays.  I can always hear when I have forgotten to close my closet door as click-clack he goes down the hall of wood flooring on a raised foundation in his latest high heeled capture! (and I thought a herd of elephants was loud, my kids put them to shame with their racket from running up and down the hall!)  I don't know what we'll do when he discovers that Mister Vonkysmeed stores his ever growing collection under the bed within easy reach, I guess we'll have to be even more careful about keeping the bedroom door closed.

Although I prefer barefoot to shoes, maybe once I overcome my phobia and start knitting socks I'll change my mind (those teeny tiny needles and fine weight yarns are scary!).  Lil' Miss has already put in her request for me to make some handknit socks for her.  I'll have to get started on some for her soon and perhaps then I'll want to make some for myself.  I can see it now, an array of rainbow hued handknit sockies for me to slip on before I put on my slippers or my slides.  Ooh, then I'll need to buy myself some new shoes to show off the handknit socks!