Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Shoes

I have been on the hunt for shoes.  Unfortunately, not for myself, for Evan.  He got his very first pair of AFO's last week and will be getting his stander in just one more short week.  This is going to be a big event for us.  So, he is need of his very first pair of shoes before next week.  I feel like I have been all over town looking.  I know that we need a wide shoe, which is not an easy thing to find.  Tonight I decided to hit the mall and tackle multiple stores in our hunt for shoes.

At the first store we were at, the nice sales lady said "what happened that he has braces on?'"  I am ashamed to admit that my response was "oh, he was a preemie, and has some issues."   He was a preemie, but what was I thinking.  After leaving the store, without any shoes, I was angry with myself.  My son has Spina Bifida.  That was the correct answer.  I have no idea why I wasn't honest.  It's nothing to be ashamed of.  I felt the need to rectify myself and wated to tell the world.  The next person to ask would get the whole story. We walked into the next store and the young kid didn't even blink when I told him I need a wide shoe to fit over my son's braces.  He pulls down some Jordan's and says, this tends to be a great shoe and we sell a ton of the to kids with braces.  I wanted him to ask what was wrong, why the braces, but he didn't.  He treated us exactly like every other customer in the store. Why shouldn't he, we were there to buy shoes just like every other family.   Sadly, the Jordans didn't work with Evan's braces, which maybe was for the better.  Probably not the best thing to give a kid Jordans for his very first pair of shoes, it might set a precedence.

I am proud to say that although my conscious didn't come out on top, we did finally find shoes.  Size 4 Wide at Payless on Clearance for $4.00. 

3 comments:

  1. We've had FANTASTIC luck with Stride Rite. We can find wide-width shoes and the insoles come out which makes even more space for the AFOs to fit into the shoes. In my experience, there is always at least one Stride Rite employee trained to fit children with all kinds of orthotics on their feet.

    And BTW--I LOVE the new header photo. Those matching jammies are adorable!

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  2. That is the very thing that I am worried about when it's time for Logan to get braces...

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  3. Robeez is a nice soft-soled shoe that fits great over AFOs and also has a nice skid-resistant sole for walking. I get Madi ballet slippers, but he might not appreciate those ;). Glad you found something!

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