The Girl Has Sole

We have not had any tantrums today. I'd like to say my little girl is finally learning that my word stands firm so why bother screaming.

But I'm thinking it's the shoes.

All 14 pair, most of them in their original boxes, came to us courtesy of a family friend yesterday, the same one who introduced me to Rex. One could say Ali is both a soul and sole mate with her fantabulous pairing of parties.

While I personally have never been an accessory gal (I can contain all my cosmetics in one plastic pouch) my daughter likes nothing more than pumps, frills, eye shadow and of course, shoes. Between our new motherload of footware, and her 20 pair upstairs, she is the proud ownder of... drumroll... 34 pair.

I say this not to brag. I have bought her one set of shoes in my lifetime: a suede Hiawatha boots that I scored at thrift store for three bucks. The rest are from grandmothers, cousin hand-me downs, friend pawn offs and preschool hand me downs (oooh... make that 37 pair of shoes... she just got a Strawberry Shortcake sandal set and two pairs of tennis shoes from a little gal who, whenever she outgrows something, turns to her mommy and proclaims "These are for Stink's sister!")

The even scarier thing is that all these shoes are in her size through next year's size. She'd have had over 100 if I hadn't in turn donated or Ebayed the previous gear.

I pride myself on not being a ridiculous consumer. I fill my soul with friendship and love, not money. But I'm gonna have to concede on this one.

At least I'll have bargaining power later: "You practice your alphabet or I'm taking away those rhinestone pumps and matching clutch!"