The braces you will never see because they are covered by the shoes. I should have given more consideration to the design of the strap as it peeks out over the top of her shoes.
Anyway we first got a truly unattractive pair from Payless, before finding a slightly less unfortunate looking pair of GARANIMALS decorated with sparkly hearts at Wal-Mart. I especially HATE the way the white velcro trap peeks out from the top forming something reminiscent of those white Reebok high tops from the 80s. I spent all that time agonizing over the cutest pattern for the plastic of her brace (pink with purple butterflies, BTW) when you can't even see the plastic at all. We tried them out last night and she was zooming around the shoe store and it was incredible how much straighter her legs and feet look when she is walking. So they do work and they will be worth it. I just need to time to get over the loss of the Twinkle Toes.
Blarf. See what I mean?
Right now we are making sure she can tolerate using the braces. Every day we are increasing the amount of time she is to wear them. 2 hours the first day, 4 the second and so on until we hit 8 a day. We do not know how many years she will be required to wear them. It may be until they feel her feet have been remolded into proper alignment or maybe she will be required to wear them forever. The braces can be worn until her foot has grown another size and a half and then she will have to get a new pair.
Long and the short of it is that I need to get over it, because it is my hang up. As usual, Amelia doesn't give one wit about my obsessiveness regarding design. She's just happy being her. Let's hope it always stays that way!
I have written an ode to her Twinkle Toes. My apologies to William Blake!
Twinkle Toes, Twinkle Toes – shined so bright,
In the pitch black dark of night;
What craftsman’s hand or eye,
Dare frame you so beautiful and shimmery?
In what distant deeps or lands,
Burnt creative design within sartorial plans?
On what wings dare he aspire?
When pairing Twinkle Toes with sassy attire?
And whose hands played the part,
To twist such lines into stylish art?
And when I beheld them, oh! such a treat!
To have them encasing my little girl’s feet!
When the fashion star threw down his pencil
When designing shoes as sparkly as tinsel,
Did he smile on his work to see?
Did he who made Garanimals also make these?!?
Twinkle Toes, Twinkle Toes – shined so bright,
In the pitch black dark of night;
What craftsman’s hand or eye,
Dare frame you so beautiful and shimmery?
RIP Twinkle Toes.
7 comments:
We had the same struggle, too! Although boy shoes aren't near as cute, we had to give up a lot of styles. We settled on Puma's, which are actually pretty cute for boy shoes.
Well then, now that another obsession is behind you, (well not quite), you can get on to something that really matters. Amelia won't care or remember those shoes as being anything out of the ordinary if you handle this properly. Make a big deal out her BEAUTIFUL ONE OF A KIND shoe inserts that nobody else she knows will EVER have. Encouraging her with every step (I mean mile) she will take in them until YOU feel better about her wearing them.
I had to wear corrective shoes for about two years sometime after I learned to walk, and though I don't have much if any recollection (and maybe what I remember is only because I was reminded of it by my mother over the years) it was a necessary part of my normal developmental pattern. I can almost guarantee that Amelia doesn't give one whit about what's on her feet, because she doesn't intend to let them hold her back.
Amelia has had much worse looking apparatus attached to her sweet face in her first year, which made it difficult to pick her up and love on her, but you saw past it and honestly didn't notice after a while because it was something she HAD to have just to survive. Well so are these braces. They will become a normal part of her daily routine and someday, upon looking back, you will realize how quickly her feet adapted, and straightened because of them. You'll wonder why you made such a fuss over them, knowing the good they have done her.
I understand the need to have our children appear to be as "normal" as possible with all the hurtful questions and stares one gets when they have health issues. She will one day be able to wear those sparkly, bejeweled and somewhat garish shoes that she won't believe YOU PICKED OUT AND MADE HER WEAR when she was little. Amelia has no understanding of how beautiful or ugly they are, so they should become the most beautiful shoe inserts ever worn.
Next time write an ode to happy feet that tramp all over in special lavender butterfly braces without a care of who might see her in them.
MOM/Grammy
PS One way of hiding those straps would be to purchase bobby socks or at least a sock with a fold down cuff and fold it over the straps instead of having the straps exposed.
Welllllll, I think the shoes are too cute and don't even notice the extra straps. Are they the ones with the hearts, or the plain ones? Kids today wear just about anything to add cool detail. Put some of those stickum plastic decorations on them if she doesn't get them to her mouth first. (I guess I don't see this as a major issue because I had to wear a body brace for 4 years and Mom found clothes that disguised it pretty well. Actually pretty stylish, too. My friends didn't care either.) Also, the boys and Joelle wore the white high top shoes when they started walking. As long as they help her to zoom and have fun, that's the best part. You could see if Jimmy Choo could make something special, or Loubiton (sp.) That money tree you just planted in the back yard might grow, if we had any rain to help it happen. She is adorable with the smile and no one will notice the feet. Point made....don't worry! GMom
Twinkle Toes designer work in Taipei
Designing stupid shoes for very little pay.
He work really hard and give it all he had
But the Boss Man he say that shoe look really bad.
So Twinkle Toes designer go home to his wife
And say, Fortune Cookie Girl, I need a new life.
She say, "Twinkle Toes Guy, lift up your chin
You try really hard and your work is no sin.
So Twinkle Toes Guy breathe sigh of relief
For at least Fortune Cookie Girl gave him no grief.
So he went to sleep early and got plenty of zees
Thinking the next day his boss he would please.
But fate would not have it, and the boss start to shout
When Twinkle Toes Guy his new design he laid out.
The Boss said, "You idiot, these shoes are too small
That cutie in Houston can't wear these at all."
So Twinkle Toes Guy go outside and cry
He felt really bad, he just want to die.
But then in his head a great thought he did trigger
"I know," he said, "I'll just make them bigger."
By the Ancient Sage.
The Ancient Sage thinks to be clever
But lives with a woman who he thinks could never
Outwit, outsmart or figure it out.
But alas Ancient Sage, don't render a thought
For she too is clever and learned alot
From wise words imparted by the silver fox.
Methinks the Ancient Sage has been dipping into the Tsingtao!
It was the sake.
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