Shoe management
How many shoes does a child need?!
This is not a trick question. It’s a plea for sanity.
A pair for school, a pair for parties. A pair of trainers (that’s tennis shoes for you yanks). Slippers. Oh yeah, and wellies. Sandals for the summer. That should just about cover it. Tops six pairs of footware per child.
I have three children. So why the heck do I have 82 PAIRS of shoes in the children’s wardrobe? This doesn’t count the 13 pairs of “in use” shoes that clutter our entry way. And I won’t even go into how many I have, though this does make me curious and I might go count them.
I was cleaning out the children’s wardrobe the other day. Don’t get the wrong idea, this is a job that only happens once a year at most. It’s an expensive job. I buy my mother a ticket to come over from California. Her reward? Help me go though mountains of stuff. Mom was over recently and that is how I discovered the obscene amount of girls’ shoes I have hoarded over the years.
These shoes are of all states and sizes as well. Most don’t even fit my three-year-old anymore. Some don’t fit my six-year-old yet. Several have only been worn by one child, because I had forgotten about their existence.
I have no idea the origin of some of the shoes. I have purple velvet ones, black Mary Janes, a pair of pink Stride Rite’s with orange polka dots that are spotless. I have blue Van’s that have seen better days, I even have a pair of worn pink Princess trainers with sand in them! Yikes. I’m sure most of these shoes have been shipped back and fourth between the US and UK several times.
Why? Why can’t I just give them to Oxfam or Sue Ryder or in some cases, just throw them away? Because when you start to off load your children’s old shoes and clothes, you have accepted that your babies are GROWING UP.
I approached an unsuspecting mother at school with an adorable two-year-old girl, and told her that I had “a few shoes” that may fit her daughter. Would she want them?
She came by, and I immediately thrust a large bag of shoes her arms. And then I offered her an even larger bag of used girls’ clothing.
I have no idea if she wanted them, but I sure feel better.
Photo credit: trepelu
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Housewifeinthehighlands | 25th Jan 09
It’s funny how all these shoes just creep up on you. I used to restrict my daughter to one pair of shoes and one pair of wellies. This is what my son has also. But somehow my daughter has ended up with shoes, 4 pairs of wellies (they all fit), snow boots, knee high boots, trainers, party shoes and plimsolls for nursery and of course slippers. My word, that is 11 choices of footwear and she is only 4!
Thatgirl39 | 21st Jan 09
Cool – a shoe post! Small Child has about 3 pairs plus a pair of wellies on the go at any one time. I give them away to charity when she has grown out of them but confess to keeping the cutest ones and snaffling them away into a keepsake box! She is obsessed with getting some trainers with flashing lights next! Cant think where she gets any kind of shoe obesession from – I have slightly more pairs than there are states in America!
TooManyHats | 20th Jan 09
What?! 82 pair! Honestly, we don’t have that many pair of shoes between the 5 of us – LOL
Glad to hear you have taken the first step and are giving some away. I am sure the mom was very pleased to be so blessed.
If you were in the States you could have had a garage sale
Just a Plane Ride Away | 20th Jan 09
O. M. G.
82 pairs!?!
Well, I am sure we have that many sitting around here as well. Like clothes, we only use a few pairs regularly. All of those high heels I brought over from Texas? Forget it. They’ve been sitting in a plastic box for nearly two years. Oh, wait, except for a pair of black sing backs. I think I’ve used them twice.
Iota | 20th Jan 09
Somehow it feels better to give them to a person, rather than a charity shop. Something to do with wanting them to be appreciated. We mothers do go a bit odd when it comes to passing on baby and kid stuff.
Potty Mummy | 19th Jan 09
I’m with you; the fewer shoes the better (especially since my two are boys). And yet, we still have a box full of too-small summer shoes by the front door. Why? Why?
Jo Beaufoix | 19th Jan 09
Wow I bet you made her day, seriously. I’ve still got both my girls first shoes and their little shoe boxes, but I have a little niece we pass stuff on to as well as friends so we tend to do alright shoe wise. I do seem to have 8 million single black PE pumps though. Tsk. Great post.
Coding Mamma (Tasha) | 19th Jan 09
I’m fairly certain that Rosemary has more shoes than I do. I am thoroughly addicted to buying her shoes, though am doing well at limiting myself to the minimum – wellies and ‘normal’ shoes at the moment, though would add some boots to that if anywhere had any left.
Clothes – have managed to give away a couple of coats, everything else is up in the attic, for the slight chance that one day we will have another little girl. I’m realising now, thought, that if we do I’ll just want to buy her all new clothes, anyway, so I should sort them out and e-bay or give away. One day. Very soon. I promise.
Liz@VioletPosy | 19th Jan 09
I’ve really had to knock Lily’s shoe fetish on the head, now I’m not working as much. She is obsessed with shoes – once again where is this gene from?!?
So in the winter it’s school, wellies, trainers, warm boots and party shoes. In the summer I’ve gotten it down to just Crocs and school shoes. The handy thing about Crocs is I can bribe her with Jibbitz (the little jewel things that go in them) as part of her chart/reward system.
Our local children’s shoe shop has a recycle bin and the local Sally Army clothes collection big metal box thingy has a sign on it asking for children’s shoes. So that’s where I dispose of her often little worn shoes.
Homeofficemum | 19th Jan 09
I was going to suggest eBay. But giving them away is just as good. I’m the same. My husband wanted to put all the baby clothes in the recycling bin. I couldn’t let him. They’re still in our garage. I have them in piles. To be eBay-ed. To be given to charity. To be recycled. But still I’ve not got rid of them. Too hard.