Monday, March 15, 2010

3/15/2010 Holy shoes!

We're home!

We left Truckee today at 10:30am, took a scenic route home including a leisurely lunch, and got home around 5pm. I'm not kidding when I say "scenic," because we drove all the way down Lake Tahoe.

More on all that later....I'm dying to write and blog about our trip, but time and illness preclude. I am really not feeling well, and now my eyes are goopy and the bronchial cough is kicking in. I should probably save the whole ski-trip experience for a single comprehensive post, but really, who is this blog for? It's my mind-purge -- you poor hapless readers are just along for the ride!

We manage this family -- barely -- using Google Calendar. All the appointments and obligations and activities just can't be tracked without it. And now, I have a new thing to add to the calendar: every 3 months: CHECK SHOES.

Four months ago, I posted about getting all the kids new shoes, two pairs each. At the time, I was getting the idea that 4 months was about as long as a pair of sneakers would last for the boys. They wear their shoes out much faster than even Katrina outgrows hers. But I didn't take that enough to heart, and I didn't check Julian's sneakers within that timeframe.

I should have. When we arrived in Truckee last weekend, I took a close look at his sneakers and discovered this.

Long, long past usefulness. His jeans also had a hole in the knee (all but one pair of his do now), and then I found several holes in his "gently used" shirt to boot. Julian giggled when I called him a little street urchin.

But the shoes were really beyond the pale. I knew a seam had come undone on the top, but didn't realize they had shredded to this level. And sure enough, it's right on the 4-month mark.

Obviously, checking the condition of basics like shoes should probably happen before a big trip, though I was pretty consumed with checking the non-usual things, like boots, snow pants and goggles. I was really mortified when I realized that his shoes were in this condition, but I picked a good trip to make this mistake on: he didn't need these at all until we drove home today.

Though he did sort of need them. It'd have been nice not to have sock contact with the snow here. This is the last picture of him in those shoes. (I did mention "scenic" route, right? Emerald Bay on Lake Tahoe....wow.)

(and he's wearing a size 4 hand-me-down jacket that the outer zipper is broken on...) (and he needs a haircut...) (poor kid!)

When we got home, I told Julian to throw his shoes in the garbage -- a huge treat for little boys. And then I pulled out a brand-new pair from the closet. At least I did something right.

...almost. I haven't checked Gabriel's.

3/15/2010

3 comments:

cstatman said...

mine has some knees worn through, and? today, I was thinking about, well, my mom, and sears Iron on patches, that she would put on the inside and outside of the knees of my toughskins pants.

i think I am gonna Iron some on his! :)

nb said...

good luck....I can't keep up with all the torn knees around here. Some of the holes are far beyond patching too, because, of course, I let it go too long. I've also given up on turning them all into shorts; there are just too many (though many *will* become shorts, if unhemmed). My boys are following in my slovenly footsteps!

DaVE said...

I grew to loath both Toughskins and iron-on patches. Don't you remember how the edges felt against your legs?