This Poor Kid...He Sure Didn't Win The Mommy Lottery

We got Jackson some new shoes last week. He had been crying and fighting us when we would put his shoes on, but I just thought it was part of his new attitude about getting dressed - namely, that he doesn't want to. Nor does he want to change his diaper, or wear a jacket, or ... you get the idea. Quite frankly, I wasn't sure his feet had grown that much and thought that maybe the use of thicker winter socks was making his shoes just uncomfortable enough to make him whine about it.

You see where this story is headed, right?

Sure, hindsight is 20-20 for you folks on the outside, but give us a break, we've got other stuff going on too....

Anyway, when we measured his feet at the shoe store, we were surprised to find that we had been cramming his size 7(w) feet into size 5 1/2(w) shoes. Seriously. That had to hurt every time he walked. Exactly how long do you think he suffered with wearing shoes that were severely too small? I mean, it had to take quite a while for his feet to grow 1 1/2 sizes.

Honestly, I think that his feet really just sprouted out very quickly, so I don't think he was uncomfortable for that long. With his height, we've noticed that he is a step grower - not much growth, then all the sudden he sprouts up. I think his feet are the same way. Plus, I've always thought that he had small feet for his size and I think his feet have just now finally caught up with him. I mean, he's a pretty tall kid for his age and those size 5 1/2 looked pretty small on him, even when 5 1/2 was the correct size. He very clearly recently had a growth spurt, so I think that his feet are just trying to catch up with his height.

And, yes, I know that all sounds like an giant excuse for not having noticed that I was cramming his boats into tiny shoes, but it makes me feel better, ok? Plus, I think it's genetic - just ask my sister. She'll tell you she was forced to wear shoes that were two sizes too small up until she went away to college. According to her, our Mom's house was worse than prison that way. Like I said, I think I came by it genetically, so it's not my fault. So, in true Gen X style, I blame this all on my Mom. :)

Here he is, showing off his newly proportional feet for you.