New shoes

I talked about the sizing, but never mentioned the shoes themselves. Here they are: orange Vans and red Crocs.

The sneakers are so cute. They continue a long tradition of Isaac wearing Vans. Or should I say a long tradition of me choosing Vans for him? This tradition may be coming to an end soon. He liked some ugly bulbous space-age sneakers with lights better, but I told him they weren't an option. I realize that next time I may have to let him choose his own shoes.

Actually, I would have let him choose this time -- to a certain extent. I gave him a choice between Vans or Converse, but it turned out he didn't care. All he cared about was getting Crocs.

In fact, I almost couldn't get him to try on the Vans because he wouldn't take off the Crocs. He was excited about them, but he was also afraid, I think, that I would only end up buying one pair of shoes, and that it might not be the Crocs. He almost began to throw a tantrum, which he literally never does in public, until I reassured him that no matter what, I would indeed buy him the Crocs.

When we began discussing new sandals about a month ago, he originally asked for flip-flops. He specified that he wanted shoes he could just slip on and off at the door, unlike his Keen sandals from last year. I was afraid flip-flops would be a trip hazard for a three-year-old, so I mentioned Crocs instead. I've never been a big fan myself, but kids seem to be able to run around in them without tripping.

Isaac's face lit up, and he said, "Crocs! With the strap that moves back and forth! Like Gianluca has!" And like just about every other kid has, I pointed out. But he thought their extraordinary popularity was a big selling point. He's genuinely happy that he has the same shoes as everyone else. (And that he can slip on and off at the door.)

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This is at least the third time that Isaac, when presented with a new item of clothing, has been happy to point out that it resembles clothing worn by one of his classmates. Gianluca does wear Crocs, for instance. In the fall I bought Isaac a black-and-blue striped fleece pullover that Isaac said was like David's, and later it turned out he was right: David had the identical fleece. And last week I brought home a green striped t-shirt that Isaac identified as resembling the style of another classmate.

Craig joked that he was in high school before he noticed what other people were wearing, let alone had an opinion about what he himself should be wearing, and he has a point. Should we we worried that Isaac is being warped by the conspicuous consumption of our acquisitive suburb? Is he developing brand-name and status consciousness at such an early age? No, it seems to be style recognition, and perhaps only because he is an observant kid.

He really does notice small details. Last weekend he noticed, for example, that one of our clematis plants had begun blooming. At that point there was only a single flower, partly obscured by leaves, and he saw it through the window while he was sitting at the dining table 20 feet away.