Thursday, April 20, 2006

A Parenting Question

I went out running after work today, and when I was a few blocks from home I happened to see a small baby shoe lying in the middle of the sidewalk. As I ran past the shoe, I was thinking to myself, "Well somewhere there is an angry mom pacing around looking for something she won't find." About two blocks later I saw an exasperated father looking around like a mad man, pushing a small child with one shoe down the sidewalk in a stroller. He was probably thinking something like, "My wife is going to kill me if I don't find this shoe."

Me: Looking for a shoe?
Exasperated Father: Yes! Did you see it?
Me: It's in the middle of the sidewalk about two blocks away. You can't miss it.
Exasperated Father: Thank you!

As I finished my run, I started to ponder something. Why does a baby being pushed in a stroller need to wear shoes? It was almost 70 degrees out, so it's not like his feet were going to be cold. He's in a stroller, so he's not going to be walking around. So far I've come up with the following reasons:
  1. I'm wearing shoes. You're wearing shoes. What are you trying to say? My child isn't good enough for shoes? Isn't the right to wear shoes what this country is all about?!
  2. I'm afraid that if I don't put shoes on my child, wild animals will run up and bite his toes off.
  3. I know he doesn't need shoes, but my wife said he does. After you've been married for a while, you learn to pick your fights. You'll find out some day.
  4. But they're so cute! With their little soles, and tiny buckles! Why wouldn't you want to put shoes on his feet?
Any other ideas I'm not thinking of? Will some kind parent clue me in here? Because to me, it just seems like another thing your kid can lose which will annoy you later.
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5 comments:

  1. IzbabyApril 21, 2006 8:39 AM

    Yes, I know what losing a baby shoe is like. I had an incident in sam's club once with my daughter. They were "My" favorite shoes for her. I would have to go with #4

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  2. NickApril 21, 2006 12:42 PM

    The only thing I have against #4 is that baby toes are pretty darn cute themselves. So by covering them up, you're basically saying that baby shoes are cuter than the tiny little toes of your own flesh and blood. Is that the kind of message you want to give?

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  3. AnonymousApril 21, 2006 1:23 PM

    you are hilarious!

    I put shoes on my kid just in case he doesn't want to sit in the stroller about halfway through and decides he wants to walk.

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  4. NickApril 21, 2006 1:55 PM

    I could see that as a good reason if your child was walking age. But this kid looked to be around 8 months or so, which isn't exactly prime "walking age"... more like "stumble 2 feet from mom to dad while they take pictures and clap at me age".

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  5. JoeyApril 22, 2006 2:43 PM

    I think either #1 or #4 is the general answer. That's the only reason I can figure that Nike makes any money on its 3-inch-long $120 sneakers. I don't even know how you can call them sneakers, considering that the kids can't sneak anywhere in them.

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