New Shoe Day

Remember New Shoe Day? Your mom wanted you to get a cheap pair. You were drawn to the flashy ones. Mom was thinking, "They need to be practical." You were thinking, "I just want to be the envy of  my class for the rest of the school year." But, eventually, you and Mom came to an agreement (maybe a settlement), and home you went with your new shoes on your feet and your old ones stuffed unlovingly in the new shoe box. You spent the rest of the day looking down, admiring your new footwear. That is, when you weren't proving the worth of your new shoes by showing anyone and everyone how high you could jump now, how fast you could run. Ah, the memories. They all came rushing back today, as it was New Shoe Day in our household. All the kids got new kicks in preparation for our annual trek west, where hiking and mountain climbing abound. Old shoes would actually be better for this, I know, but since we are almost purely a flip flop/croc family in the summertime (uh, also fall, winter and spring), the old athletic shoes have been outgrown and had to be replaced. And so, we had New Shoe Day, with all the joys I remember from my own childhood--the running, the jumping, the gazing and, of course, the challenging of siblings to numerous foot races. It was awesome!