Every so often, something unexpected will really take my breath away as it reminds me how much DorkySon is growing up.
It’s not usually something big or significant that startles me into that realisation. We have dispensed with naps and nappies, with a minimum of fuss. Sippy cups and sleep suits are a thing of the past, and I haven’t shed a tear over either. But this weekend I had one of those moments where I stopped and looked at my boy, shaking my head in disbelief. Wow.
DorkySon needed new shoes.
I remember buying his very first shoes; dinky, cute little things that I could cup in the palm of my hand. First shoes come in a box that has pastel coloured polka dots all over it. First shoes themselves come in bright, cheerful colours; everything about them is unthreatening.
Clarks have a ritual where they take a souvenir photo of your baby in his first pair of shoes, which you can then take home with you. I still have it somewhere. DorkySon, who must have been about eighteen months old, looks both proud and wobbly as he adjusts to the strange new sensation of wearing something on his feet.
But we have long moved on from first shoes.
We now head towards the corner of the shop that shelves proper shoes; school shoes, serious shoes. It is all black and brown leather in this corner. The pastel polka-dots have gone, and DorkySon’s shoes come in the same plain green boxes that the adult ones do. There is no feeling of excitement in this corner, as there is in the first shoes section, just a weary sense of resignation from parents who are forking out yet another thirty or forty quid for something they know will only last a few months.
This weekend was the first time that DorkySon has ever really expressed an opinion about which shoes he wanted.
“Those,” he said, pointing.
“Let’s check if they have them in your size.”
“Don’t care if they don’t. I want those ones.”
Of course, they didn’t have them in his size. They don’t even make them in his size. So it took a good ten minutes of cajoling and persuading before he would try on a similar pair, but he did eventually, grudgingly agree.
They were fine.
And so it was that we came home, not with a pair of dinky, cute little shoes that I could cup in my palm, but with a pair of Stompos in Size 8E.
Stompos.
In size 8.
They have a picture of a roaring orange dinosaur – a Stomposaurus – on the bottom, and they look absolutely bloody enormous.
On DorkySon’s feet, they don’t look enormous; they look entirely in proportion with the rest of him. But he kicked them off as we came in the door, and as I was tidying up the hallway last night I picked them up. They are huge. They are chunky, and heavy, and they are very definitely proper boy shoes.
Which means that DorkySon is now a proper boy. Not a baby, or a toddler, or even a pre-schooler, but a proper boy.
How did that happen?
Dorkymum | Stories from Tasmania 
Love this post. Made me smile…as it’s so true! Our eldest is nearly 10 and is an adult size 4! Size 4…just two more sizes and he’s the same as me! How did that happen! 😉
Eek! That must be a v odd feeling!
It all seems to happen so quickly too, doesn’t it? Fortunately we are still in the cute kids section but I dread the days when we will be in the ‘big kids’ bit negotiating over shoes. When I was a little girl I insisted on having red patent shoes for school and I won the battle, so I’m sure my son (who bears all my stubborn traits) will be exactly the same. Give dorkyson lots of cuddles before he doesn’t want any of those too!
Ha! DorkySon had a pair of bright red shoes a year or two ago, I loved them! I’m hoping having a boy will be slightly easier – I remember having battles with my Mum about appropriate height for shoes when I was at high school!
I bought my two boys two pairs each last week. Brantano do Clarks without the palaver. Boots and trainers and trainers and school shoes. (£90!)The youngest had gone up a size and a half! I looked on aghast too – it’s only been a few months. He starts school in September and he, too, is looking like a proper little chappie rather than the little thing he was. If I could stop him right here, I would. It breaks my heart how quickly they grow up X.
Oof, it must get so much worse when school starts. So far we’ve got by with one pair at a time, although I’ve just got him wellies for the snow. Time must zip by even faster with two xx
First shoes I always buy from Clarks but from then on I just don’t like the range.. I bought Thor’s second pair from Schuh Kids. They opened up a brand new store and I much preferred the range in there for boys. On the other hand the range of girls shoes in clarks are so much better than boys!! Why is that?
Oh that’s interesting! I haven’t checked out the Schuh range. Clarks just seem best fit for T by a mile. We’ve had Start-Rite and Geox and they were both too wide.
Wow. They do look big and stompy. Proper shoes is defo a sign that they are proper children now – I will miss those spotty boxes too when Little A graduates to big, big girls shoes! X.
At least girls ones are likely to still have some element of cute about them. Nothing sweet about these Stompers! Xx
Cool shoes! It always amazes me how fast their little feet grow. I want to keep them tiny forever.
Oh bless. It’s just adjusting isn’t it? There are still loads of fun things as they get older, but the cuteness definitely fades!
F has dinky feet in a size five but when we bought her first “normal” shoes recently (i.e. not boots to support her hypermobile ankles) I did actually well up at the sight of her walking around with these grown-up shoes on. How quickly time passes! I need to remind myself of this mid-tantrums. Time always seems to slow down during a tantrum…
Aww bless her, it must have been so emotional after everything you’ve been through. How brilliant that she’s now skipping around with the additional support 🙂
What a lovely write up of a seemingly insignificant rite of passage. But it is very important and I imagine DorkeySon will remember the day. I remember mine. They were Buster Brown shoes and they hurt. A least Clarks feel good on the feet!
Buster Brown even sounds like they’d be uncomfortable!
What is it about shoes? I gave up working after number 3 and we bought Coombemill…why? Because I wanted to be there to finally buy a first pair of shoes for one of my children and not the nanny! There were of course other reasons, but this is still the emotional reason that sticks in my mind. There is no halting time so enjoy those little feet at every step of the way.
Oh wow, what a lovely thing 🙂 that’s an excellent reason to change your life path isn’t it? Xx
Aah, he will always be your baby, even when he towers over you and is stomping adult size 8 feet all over the house!
I am still in the exciting first shoes section, so I feel your pain, will be a sad day when I slink past the pretty pastels to the hardcore black patent leather section!
You’re right, he will! I just won’t be able to tell him so 😉
Aw! I feel the same when I see my 17 year olds size 12 feet!
Stomposaurus? One aproves!
Haha! You know, they really should do a range for grown ups called Mammasaurus…
Z has the same pair in a size 8! Growing up so fast, I can barely catch my breath x
Scary, innit? Even when they’re still quite little and lovely, they’re huge at the same time xx
Oh so, so true. We have the dinosaur shoes here. And they do look huge, particularly in comparison to Mr Maxy’s little ones! Time goes to fast. But as my Dad so wisely tells me “they are still so little really.” xx
Its true 🙂 When he curls up in my lap and sleepy and thumb-sucky, I realise the shoes don’t mean too much really 😉 xx