It’s spring this week and we’re getting some nice weather in California so it’s time to get some clothes for the kids. We needed shorts and sandals for them and now is the time to buy them, mostly because the stores don’t carry the items in the right season. Right now the stores are selling bathing suits and summer wear, but come May, you’ll only find these items on the clearance racks. At that point the stores will be stocking their shelves with school clothes for the fall. But I digress.

So we were out trying on sandals when Sugar found a pair of sandals that she HAD to have. “Please, Mom, Please can I have these?” They were heels! She’s 7 years old!  I don’t remember asking for heels until I was about 11 years old. So I did one of the dumbest things a parent can do; I started thinking logically. I said, “Sugar, you know you can’t run in those.” She said, “I know, you can only walk. I promise I won’t run in them. Can I have them, please?” Now, the real problem isn’t that I’m weak and give in to a begging child. No, the real problem is that I’m female and I too thought that these heels were really cute. In fact, if they had had them in my size I probably would have bought a matching pair.

So I enlisted my husband’s help. Or at least I tried. I asked what he thought about her having heels. He looked at me and then at her and then back to me. He shrugged and said, “I don’t know. This is your department.” Thanks.

I let Sugar try them on and said, “Let’s see how you walk.” Now, I know walking in heels takes practice, but Sugar doesn’t know that. Plus, I was still trying to decide.

Now, Sugar thinks that she’s getting closer to getting the heels because I’m letting her try them on (and she’s correct in that thinking) so she’s excited. So she puts on the sandals and takes four steps and says, “Oh, no. I’m not getting these.” I asked why and she said, “Mom, these push you forward!” I said, “I know.  They’re heels. That’s what heels do.”  She said, “No, Mom, you just don’t know! They make you feel like you’re going to fall on your face!” I explained that I have a closet full of heels and so I understand, but to a 7-year old experiencing this for the first time, well… “Mom, you just don’t know. I’m a sport girl, I want my tennis shoes!” 

And in that moment, my precious little girl stayed 7 years old.