Shoes

Binta came out of her bedroom wearing a black velvet dress with butterfly shaped sparkles all over it.

"Mama, can I wear this today?"

Of course, I'm thinking it's not a good thing to wear today. It's not comfortable for lounging, she won't be able to play outside in it, and she's risking looking a little overdressed at the grocery store today.

But, not wanting to get into a fight before noon...

"Sure."

She lights up and thanks me, and I pat myself on the back for being such a good mom. It was a hand-me-down dress, means nothing to me, so I have nothing invested in it. What do I care if it gets dirty today?

She selects her fancy black dress shoes. The left shoe fits her foot exactly, and her right foot is struggling to fit into the other shoe. She cries and fusses and stamps her feet and whines about how it is hurting her foot.

"We can go to the store today and buy you some new shoes that fit your feet," I suggest.

More whining and crying.

"Looks like your feet have been doing too much growing, Binta."

"But my other foot fits in this shoe!"

"Well, sometimes our feet don't grow at the same speed, baby. Sometimes we grow one foot a little faster than the other," I reason.

She wails in response, "But I've been trying to grow them the same!"