Thursday, October 1, 2009

These Shoes Were Made For Walking.

The other day, my mother-in-law and I were discussing baby things and she asked me if I had ever seen a pair of Walking Shoes. I gave her a blank stare and admitted that, No, I've never even heard of Walking Shoes. She began describing them to me and then stated that she hasn't seen any babies wearing Walking Shoes in a while, but that they used to have them all the time to help babies as they learned to walk. Aha! Hence the name!

Given that I only recently learned the difference between rompers/jumpers/sleepers, I thought that perhaps I was simply out of the loop with this Walking Shoe thing. So, I called a good friend of mine and asked her if she had heard of shoes that help babies as they learned to walk. She said Yes! and proceeded to describe something totally different than what my mother-in-law had described.

While out and about later that day, I stumbled upon them. Walking shoes.
They are, apparently, very white and very sturdy. Hard soles, tough leather for ankle support, and, um, they are all white. I'm not sure why they are all white. Hmm. Anyway. They help with ankle support and steadiness, I presume. Because soft soles? NO SUPPORT.

Then I stumbled upon the type of shoe that my friend had described to me:


Very not-sturdy, soft leather soles (like a moccasin), and cute. Cub actually owns a pair like this. They are soft as to allow the baby to learn to walk as though they were barefoot. Because hard soles? HARD WITH WALKING.

Just for kicks, I asked some friends of mine at church about walking shoes the next day. Moms of older children knew what they were, and moms who were my age hadn't heard of them. For the most part. 

Yet another example of how opinions about what is best for babies/toddlers/kids changes and morphs over time. I'm sure Cub's kids will be wearing walking shoes that lace up to their knees and come with removable tread. And cupholders.

What about you? What do you think of when you hear "walking shoe"?

1 comment:

  1. We have several like the second pair you posted. I love them because they stay on his feet! Of course, Levi is nowhere near walking, but they're cute. :) Those first ones? Wow. They sure are white. ;)

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