There are no shoes
When my girls were still fairly small, small enough not to care about what they wore, I was out buying shoes for them. I got them settled into the shop, got their feet measured and started looking at the different shoes available.
I don’t like buying them the same shoes, not just because they are twins and I like them to be different individuals. The real reason is that it’s a nightmare trying to keep track of what shoes belong to whom, if they are the same. Believe me, I did that mistake once and even with a big X at the heal I got it wrong, frequently.
It’s not just a matter of sizes, and they do have different sizes, but rather of how the shoe gets moulded to the foot as they walk differently.
So my requirements are:
•Same shoes is ok, but two different colours.
•Hardy shoes. We live out in the country and the toes have to be re-enforced.
•Never white shoes. That is just asking for punishment.
•No flashing lights. I just won’t pay extra for that.
•Preferable in Gore-tex, nothing is more perfect for the Irish weather.
As I was ticking off my list to the shop assistant, she kept showing me one frilly shoe after another. I realised that girls shoes are all primarily pink, white and any shade in between. They are also very open, leaving the feet exposed to rain and puddles.
I kept rejecting one shoe after another, and the shop assistant also told me there were no Goretex shoes either. I was getting disappointed and wondering if I would have to settle for the pretty pink ones that would get trashed on the first walk of our gravel road. I decided I needed to look around more.
As I was leaving the shop I passed by shoes that had the Goretex tag, protected toes, steady and hardy shoes, with no lights or frills.
“What about these? Do they come in their sizes?”, I asked the shop assistant.
“But those are boys shoes!”, she says in surprise with her eyebrows raised.
“Well, I don’t think it will do them any harm”, I answer.
Which is why my girls walked out with hardy shoes that lasted them for ages. Ever so masculine, one in light brown and the other in blue, and I still can see no signs of them showing any gender confusion.
