Money Can Buy You. . . Shoes

– Posted in: Elfie, Parenting, Personal Insanity, Shopping Hell

My 7-year-old daughter, Elfie, is a bit of an enigma to me (I’m sure that’ll get a lot better as the hormones kick in). One thing that confuses me the most is her preferences when it comes to clothes. Just when I think I’ve got it nailed down, she pulls the sparkle shoes out from under me.

Elfie has been known to combine every pattern, color, and seasonal accessory known to woman (and not necessarily donned during the appropriate season) in her fashion choices. I almost never say anything about what she wears. I’m trying really, really (really, really, really) hard to just let her do her own thing and not get all wrapped up in her appearance. We have enough stories about moms shooting their daughters up with Botox or first graders on diets or the dreaded Toddlers and Tiaras. I just want my kid to be a kid.

Anyway, like I said, Elfie’s tastes are “eclectic.” She’s always loved pink, sparkly, ruffly things. But her favorite piece of clothing right now is an over-sized T-shirt that she wrote “Money can’t buy you love” on with puffy paint. And while she does have some froofy princess nightgowns (that look more formal than some of the bridesmaids dresses I’ve owned), her usual sleeping attire is one of my dad’s white undershirts that she’s “stolen” from his house.

And as for shoes, she’s always been a fan of slip-ons. I could never get her interested in wearing tennis shoes. But here’s the thing — Elfie’s never been much of a runner. She’s a run-around kid, but she’s always had a difficult time actually running. I finally had my chiropractor take a look at her because she was complaining about her hip hurting all the time. And lo and behold, a couple of months later, Elfie’s all interested in wearing tennis shoes and running everywhere. Correlation? Causation? Who knows. Who freaking cares?

Anyway, last week, while we were in Portland, Elfie basically did a final thrashing on her already old pair of red sparkle shoes (apparently they are not waterproof). So while I was cruising Target today, I ran into a new, suped-up, nuclear pair of sparkle shoes that seriously had me standing in the aisle like an idiot for about five minutes. Because I couldn’t decide whether or not these things were just too over the top.

I get very torn about this sort of thing. I know it’s lame. I know I should just relax and buy the frickin’ shoes. Because they’re fun, damn it. But the fact is, if it were up to me, she’d probably be wearing something brown or black and. . . coordinated.

But that’s not Elfie. So I grabbed the shoes, not knowing for sure if she’d think they were over the top (because remember, I never really know when it comes to that kid). But of course she liked them. They’re hot pink. They have jewels. And they go perfectly with the shirt she made with puffy paint.

Money can’t buy you love. She’s already got that right. But it can, on occasion, buy you some pretty sweet sparkle shoes.

10 Comments… add one

andrea September 29, 2011, 12:17 pm

Oh how I miss the crazy thoughts on coordinating outfits when my daughter was 7! Now it's a lot of black gym shorts at 11…bleah! Love your daughter's t-shirt flair, and am so glad she loved the shoes!
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ginger September 29, 2011, 1:59 pm

OMG those are sooo cute. My 4 year old DD is also a clothing and shoe whore. I mean at 18 months we started arguing over clothes. Was her "Orangie" dress clean? Why wasn't it clean? She could only wear "Orangie". Her obsession has manifested into only purple clothes at 3 years old. And now at 4…"something pretty". And just last week we had a shoe crisis. All of her sparkle shoes were either too big, too small, or too worn out. So I did what any self respecting mother who doesn't want to spend every morning dealing with a hysterical 4 year old over shoes, I went to Zappos.com and ordered her some purple sparkly shoes. They get here today, we are soooo excited. I will be…I mean she will be crushed if they don't fit. Money can't buy you happiness but it sure buys me my sanity.

Kate, witwitwoo September 29, 2011, 10:07 pm

Bless her. I have a pair of red, sparkly high heels. Think a slutty Dorothy from Wizard of Oz. Never worn them. They're kept in the back of the wardrobe next to my rarely used stripper heels 🙂

They sure do look pretty tho.
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@ByWordsMusings September 30, 2011, 2:27 am

The shoes rock – perfection for seven!
You scored big points here mama, big points indeed!

danniehill September 30, 2011, 4:46 am

Your kids are destined to be entertainers! Just don't hold them back, lol. I have three kids who went through the dirve us crazy with clothes period. My wife and I decided to either enter an asylum or just let them wear anything they wanted. A few teachers weren't too happy but it wasn't long before the kids learned from one another how to dress– maybe not for success, but also not look like 'mountain folk'. Today they are more normal than me, which isn't saying a lot.

Great post!
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PartlySunny October 3, 2011, 4:32 pm

Black at 11? Boy she's advanced. I didn't get all dark and depressive until college.;)

PartlySunny October 3, 2011, 4:36 pm

I hope the shoes fit. Nothing worse than explaining non-fitting things to little kids.

Elfie went through a phase when she'd only wear dresses. For a whole year. It was rough in the winter.

PartlySunny October 3, 2011, 4:36 pm

You must — must — break out those shoes. And then send me a picture.

PartlySunny October 3, 2011, 4:37 pm

I'm so glad you think so. Seriously, I'm the worst shopper because I over-think everything.

PartlySunny October 3, 2011, 4:43 pm

Fortunately my kids go to a school where a lot of kids are pretty kooky, so no one cares. At least yet. They're still young and not hormonal.

I'm sure you crack your kids up!

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