Tuesday Shoesday: New Kicks for Zoe

The other day Zoe said to me, "Mom, a bunch of kids at school have these sneakers I really like."  Then she paused and said quite sheepishly, "Can I get a pair?"  As if she was afraid to ask.  She should know that I recognize the importance of the right pair of shoes.  I was a little disappointed in her at that moment, but I got over it and I said of course she could have the cool sneakers.

But first she had to find out who made them and where to get them.  The next day she came home and reported they were made by Reebok, called Zigtech and were available at the mall.  They look like this:

The next weekend we headed to the mall and went to Kid's Foot Locker.  They had the sneakers, but not the color Zoe wanted.  We tried a few other places, but she was unwilling to settle.

That night when we got home I looked online and discovered that Reebok let's you customize this kind of sneaker.  The possibilities and design combinations were endless.  I was so excited to show this to Zoe since then she could pick out exactly what she wanted.  She eagerly sat down at the computer and started designing her perfect shoe.

About an hour later she gave up in frustration.  She could not figure out what she wanted.  I tried to help, but I just wasn't helpful as is often the case with Mom and clothes.  I even suggested she try Nike's version of customized shoes.  That was equally frustrating.  Finally, Zoe could take no more and declared that she no longer wanted sneakers and that we were to just forget it.  It was a shame, because there are some great, creative possibilities with being able to design your own, but I guess ultimately, there were just too many choices.

The next morning I happened to get an email from J Crew advertising some stuff from their kids' line and the email included a really cute, classic pair of Adidas sneakers for kids.  They just screamed Zoe to me.  I showed them to her and she fell in love instantly.  We are now anxiously awaiting the arrival of these:

In the end I have to say I am proud that Zoe recognized the importance of not only cool, but classic.