The Case of The Missing Shoe

Tuesday I took the boys to the toddler storytime at the local library. It was great! Much more active than the baby storytime, which was perfect for us. And, the library lady stood to read the books, greatly reducing her risk of getting mauled by three little boys who want to hold the books.

As usual, Alex took off his shoes. The kid has something against shoes, and he has rubber ankles, so he can kick off any shoe, any time. As a result, I'm pretty vigilant about doing a shoe check whenever we go somewhere so we don't leave anyone's footwear behind.

We came home from the library and the boys had lunch and played a bit inside before naptime. When I went to take them outside after their nap, I could only find one of Sam's shoes.

I was sure we had all three pairs when we left the library. I looked all over the playroom and finally gave up and took him out barefoot. 

I spent the next day and a half looking for that darn shoe.

I cleaned out the van (which was necessary, but not what I'd planned to do with my evening), I opened all the cupboards that the boys can open a little bit despite the baby locks. Nothing.

I dug through all the toys. I searched behind the television and through all the diaper supplies. Nothing. 

I took the mattress off the changing table and looked behind the front we boarded up so the boys wouldn't climb it. Nothing.

Amelia and I went to the library and checked the lost and found. No luck. We searched the parking lot. Still no shoe.

Jeff cleaned out the van again. Nothing. Then we searched the yard, even though I knew it couldn't be out there.

I started to think I was going to have to buy a new pair of shoes for Sam.

Finally, we went back to the playroom. The shoe had to be there! I crawled under the crib to check the changing table one more time and there was the missing shoe:

GRRR! I spent almost two days looking for that silly thing!

I think Sam was pushing the crib mattress up with his feet and the shoe got stuck:

Since it was defying gravity, it was a little tough to find.

I'm glad we found it or I would have had to resort to letting him wear his favorite shoes: his sister's pink Crocs!

© Trippin' Mama 2010

A Handy Hint for Kids' Shoes

Getting shoes on my kids' feet so we can leave the house is a workout in and of itself. To make it even more difficult, each child needs two shoes, preferably the same size. Matching is optional. 

An added complication in our house is identical shoes in different sizes. Isaac wears a 5 1/2. Alex wears a 6W. Sam wears a 6WW. His feet are actually square.

After months of peering at sizes on six little shoes to make pairs and figure out which shoes go on which child, I finally had a brainstorm.

It's so simple that I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner. So here's my handy new time-saving trick: When I take one of my children's shoes off, I fasten the two shoes together so I always have a matching pair. Since most of our shoes have Velcro fasteners, this is super easy. 

Of course, I still have to figure out which shoes go on which child, but at least I always have a pair.

I started doing this with Amelia's shoes, too, and now there's no more hunting for that one missing shoe. For lace up shoes, I tie the laces together and Crocs just get stuffed together. You can do that with rubber shoes!

Now, what to do with the extra 17 1/2 minutes this has added to my week...

© Trippin' Mama 2010