Eleanor is an acolyte at our church. She gets to assist with the service, gets to sit up front with the pastors, and gets to process in the beginning of the service. To be an acolyte, one of the only requirements is that she have a pair of black dress shoes: no crocs, no sandals, no tennis shoes.
This would not be a difficulty, except that Eleanor's feet have grown several sizes in the past year. She has a pair of tall black boots from the start of school last year (she only asked for two new articles of clothing: a pair of boots and a jean jacket). The boots are now two sizes too small. She is saving them for her little cousin who also looks to have big feet.
When Eleanor was asked to acolyte at the end of the summer, then, we didn't have any shoes that fit her. I looked in my closet and found a pair of black pumps (very low heels) that fit me, and so she wore them. Towards the end of the service I noticed she was walking funny...my first response was to get angry. "What does she think she's doing?" But when she came up to me after the service she showed me what had happened.
The front of the sole of the shoe had come disattached from the upper of the shoe. Every step she took, the sole would flap in the wind. She joked that she was going to paint the inside red with white teeth to make alligator shoes. Clearly we needed new shoes. She wore my recent Dansko mary janes one week, but that was not sustainable (I need to wear those!).
The problem is, when you prefer to go barefoot, no shoe really stacks up. After trying on most of the black shoes in Target, we now have a pair of "acolyting slippers" which are black, fuzzy and subtle enough that Eleanor should be able to wear them in church. They are also size 11. But it's better than ones where the soles are coming off!
This would not be a difficulty, except that Eleanor's feet have grown several sizes in the past year. She has a pair of tall black boots from the start of school last year (she only asked for two new articles of clothing: a pair of boots and a jean jacket). The boots are now two sizes too small. She is saving them for her little cousin who also looks to have big feet.
When Eleanor was asked to acolyte at the end of the summer, then, we didn't have any shoes that fit her. I looked in my closet and found a pair of black pumps (very low heels) that fit me, and so she wore them. Towards the end of the service I noticed she was walking funny...my first response was to get angry. "What does she think she's doing?" But when she came up to me after the service she showed me what had happened.
The front of the sole of the shoe had come disattached from the upper of the shoe. Every step she took, the sole would flap in the wind. She joked that she was going to paint the inside red with white teeth to make alligator shoes. Clearly we needed new shoes. She wore my recent Dansko mary janes one week, but that was not sustainable (I need to wear those!).
The problem is, when you prefer to go barefoot, no shoe really stacks up. After trying on most of the black shoes in Target, we now have a pair of "acolyting slippers" which are black, fuzzy and subtle enough that Eleanor should be able to wear them in church. They are also size 11. But it's better than ones where the soles are coming off!
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