The woes of female footwear and the shoe fairy

This week was all about footwear at the Almeida homestead. Not the "wouldn't it be nice to buy those shoes" week. Oh no. Our week would fall in to the "Whaddaya mean they don't fit anymore?"

So like most parents of fast-growing kids, I am going broke buying footwear for my 11-year-old's various activities that include tap and ballet shoes.

The hard-to-face reality of the situation for me is that my 11-year-old, G., is wearing my size shoe now -- that'd be a women's size 11.

I know that sounds a little scary but I think she will likely surpass my 6-feet stature in just a few short years. G.'s about 5'4" tall now so I'm pretty confident her body will eventually catch up to her feet.

The good news of the week was that G.'s dance teacher told her that girl's feet typically stop growing around 6th grade. She's been in the dance shoe business for several decades so I'm counting on this being the last year we have to replace shoes before she wears them out (actually I don't think she's ever worn out a pair in her entire life).

But sadly, G.'s shoe size now requires special ordering for dance shoes and that means waiting a week or more before she can get them.

The every day shoes are slightly easier to find *if* we can locate shoes that meet her criteria.

"They have to be comfortable and feel right."
"They can't look like boy shoes."
"They can't make my feet look too big."

And mine.
"That's not appropriate for an 11-year-old."

The sad thing is that this is only September. The jump in shoe size will break the family budget again before December when we have to track down boots for both downhill and cross country skiing as well as snow boots and ice skates.

Of course, she could *borrow* some of my gear but then I can't do the activities with her. Although I suppose I could use Fino's ski stuff since he's the same size too... I know, it's all a little weird.

My slower-growing 9-year-old is not happy with me at the moment because her shoes still fit so I'm not buying her any new ones.

L. loves new shoes.

When L. was little I would go out of my way to avoid the shoe section of every store I visited with her. On the rare occasions I forgot, my little L. would pitch a fit to bring the house (or store) down if she didn't get a new pair of shoes that very minute. It was the throwing herself of the ground and sobbing kind of display. I didn't give in to her demands very often but sometimes I took the easy, cowardly way out and got the darn shoes she couldn't live without.

And this started before she could walk.

I'm not exaggerating (family and friends who know L., feel free to chime in to confirm this).

I decided when L. was about 18-months old to tell her about the Shoe Fairy who would only bring good little girls shoes. This particular Shoe Fairy did not like it when little girls pitched fits at the store.

The Shoe Fairy did visit L. periodically for a number of years and although the temper tantrums have waned, the whining and badgering for a new pair of shoes hasn't.

I know parents of boys have additional expenses in the footwear department between growing feet and shoes wearing out more quickly. But girl footwear has it's own special challenges.

I'm needing a Calgon moment about shoes right now.

Have a shoe lament? Cheer me up and tell me about it.