Tuesday, August 07, 2007

If the shoe fits. . .


Being a good friend and all, I wanted to share with you the glory of my freshly cleaned, cut, buffed, scraped, filed, moisturized, painted, and decorated tootsies. Because I know that if we were girlfriends in real life, as opposed to the internet, you would want to rejoice in a good pedicure with me. That's what girlfriends do.


Just ignore the fuzziness and out-of-focus-ness of the snapshot, and admire the hand painted flowers on each of my big toes. Proof that I can get a little bit crazy when the kids are visiting Grandma.


Seeing these pictures, made me remember a story about Bubba. My feet have grown in the last few years. Pretty much since I've had children. Before my first pregnancy, I was a real size 8 but usually squeezed into a 7 1/2, unless it was a sandal. You just can't sneak in a half-size smaller when you wear sandals.

Some time after Bubba was born I realized that I was a true size 8 1/2. I embraced motherhood and put aside my pride and actually started buying shoes that were the right size. The birth of the girls came and went and I never gave much thought to my shoe size.


Back in May, around my 32nd birthday, Bubba had a function at school. I decided to shower, shave, and actually wash my hair for the occasion. I wore some fashionable clothes and put on make-up. I even wore some of my favorite sandals that I'd worn on our honeymoon almost 9 years earlier. I was pretty sure everyone up at school wondered when Bubba got a cute new babysitter.


Anyways, I was pretty proud of the way I cleaned up and sported the look until it was time to pick Bubba up from school. When he got in the car, he said, "Mom, why can't you just buy shoes that fit instead of ones that make your foot hang over the edge?"


You can imagine my horror as I received this bit of fashion advice from my SEVEN YEAR OLD. BOY. When we got home, I inspected the fit of my beloved sandals and a few of my other pairs. I realized, with much sadness, that Bubba was right. My old sandals didn't fit any more.


Now, girlfriends, shoes aren't like clothes. They don't shrink when you wash them, and you can't blame the dry cleaners when your favorite slacks are suddenly a little snug. When your shoes are too small, it's because your feet have grown. So I pledged to buy some new sandals. My objective was to try to find something that didn't make my foot hang over the edge, or embarass my son.


As I was shopping, I learned that my true shoe size is probably now a size 9. When I swallowed my pride and admitted to Honey that his delicate flower of a bride wore a size 9 shoe, his response was, "Well, you know what they say about girls that have big feet. . ."

8 comments:

The Binkley Family said...

Well, I haven't been able to squeeze into a 7.5 since I was in junior high. I have always been a bigfoot, and luckily pregnancy did not make that any larger. I have had many friends who had that happen to them though.

And what do they say about girls that have big feet?!?!?

Leslie said...

The only thing that hasn't blown up on me since pregnancy is my skinny arms - which are too weak to barely carry both car seats. I feel your pain! Very funny.

Erica said...

What cute little feet!! I can say that because most of the time I have to buy a size 10 thanks to two pregnancies. They were definitely worth it though:)Glad to see you found some time for a little pampering.

Jen said...

I started out (pre-kids) a size 8.5, with EVERY birth my feet grew, I am now a 10.5....which they don't make, so I have one heck of a time finding shoes....I can so relate!

BTW...adorable piggy'!!!

Anonymous said...

Cute toes! If I were there I'd plan to have my kids spend the week with their grandparents too and you and I would party!!! Glad you had a good time to yourself. I'm jealous.

Oh and I hear ya on the feet growing with pregancy thing. Ugh! Mine too. (rolling eyes)

Love and miss ya,
SJ

Laci said...

Well first.. I laughed out loud at your honey's response, cus I can totally see him responding that way. I'm 22 and haven't had children, and I've worn a size 9/9.5 since I started high school! I'm a big foot I guess.

Second.. your toes are really cute! Have you been able to wear the same size toe rings all these years?

Jenni at talking hairdryer said...

Yes, I wear the same sized toe rings. In fact I bought my first ever toe ring on our honeymoon at Pike's Place Market in Seattle. I still wear it. It is the braided looking one on my left foot. It's the only thing that still fits from the honeymoon days!

~ej said...

cute toesies....i never wore sandals till recently. and after 5 kids, my feet also went up a full size.