I cannot say I have ever been a shoe crazy woman. Maybe because I started grade school in corrective footwear. Maybe because while I know of LaBoutains, Prada and Valleciaga, it’s mostly from music and not personal experience.

The one time I felt shoe envy was when I first saw my Grandma Celia’s collection of dance shoes. They were lovingly stored in those hanging shoe bags, and they took up an entire wall. They were also a half size smaller than my foot. Not that I could have walked in them, let alone danced.

I understand it’s different for boys. I fully expected demands for expensive sneakers from James when he got to middle school. He is still in elementary school, but the shoe wars have already begun.

I would not have even known, except James told his older brother that boys in his class were “asking why he wears Sketchers instead of Nikes or Addidas like they do.” What?!

Clearly, these boys are not getting enough homework. Or something.

Big brother plans to gift James some Nikes for Easter. I did the “let’s consider the outlet store”, then texted a friend whose 12-year-old wears Nikes. She let me know where she finds the best prices locally. That helps. But still ...

It feels like we’re giving in to peer pressure. All of us. Yes, it just shoes. But my fretting mind wonders what the next issue will be. And will my youngest have enough backbone to resist peer pressure down the road when he is asked to do something he knows is wrong?

I asked James about the shoes myself. I asked what he did when told his shoes weren’t good enough. His response was, well, not perfect. He said “I push them and say ‘shut up’.” Backbone may not be an issue, but I reminded him that pushing people is against the rules. And we need to work on nicer words.

I suppose it’s better to get this over with while he is still in elementary school. There will be different shoes in his future, and hopefully we will be better up to the task when middle school comes around.