Who Needs to Tie Shoes?
A long time ago I purchased my first little boy his first pair of real shoes. Being a rookie, I bought a cute little lace up pair. So we went about life's daily activities and I tied his shoes. Then, I tied his shoes again. Finally I double knotted them, and 5 minutes later I found myself yet again retying those adorable little shoes. He was really still a baby so obviously couldn't take care of these things himself. When his little feet grew and needed another pair I was all about the velcro secured shoes.
Years have passed and my four boys have never had shoes that tied with the exception of soccer and baseball cleats that we would double knot before the game and hope they held out until the end. At some point it hit me that my older boys be are beyond old enough to tie their own shoes and yet, somehow, their mommy has neglected to teach them this particular skill. It's actually a little embarrassing considering they are almost 8 & 7.
I decided recently that it was high time those big boys achieved this milestone and bought a pair of shoes with laces for my oldest. Knowing that he would balk at the idea of having to try something that might not be easy for him, I purchased them a size too big when his current shoes still fit and were in great shape. The idea being that we could practice, and then when he outgrew one pair we would be ready to go with the next one. Perfect!
Except... last week my kids brought home with much excitement another school fundraiser. This time, for special shoe laces that you don't have to tie. They were overjoyed! Exclamations were made of "Mommy! See! We don't have to learn to tie our shoes! We just need these!! PLEASE buy them!" Even my four year old picked up on the excitement and will periodically announce, "Why tie your shoes? Just use Y ties!"
I have visions of these boys as 30 year old men still not tying their shoes and it frightens me.
An original Deep South Moms post.
Rebecca wants to assure you that she will in fact teach her sons how to tie their shoes. And when she does, it will be blogged at Life With Boys, where she writes about life with a houseful of boys (and a husband.)
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