Just chillin. Eating dinner as a family the other night. All of the sudden, Elli decides she needs her shoes and socks off. Sometimes you just gotta eat in your bare feet.

When you are two, it can be difficult to get your shoes off. You have little hands and you are not very strong. So you struggle because your parents are trying to let you learn how to dress yourself. Your parents are trying to let you develop the skills necessary to dress yourself, so they don't always jump in right away to bail you out. You can eventually get it, even if it means you have a bit of a wedgie because you hiked your Elmo panties up a little too high. But at least people clap for you and shower you with adulation when you figure it out.

There's a difference between my life and the life of a two year old. Nobody ever claps for me when I have a wedgie.

So she's struggling with the shoes. Struggle, struggle, struggle. This is serious business, and it's gone on too long. Finally she looks up at me with all of the seriousness she can muster and makes a simple request.

"Get the scissors"

In theory, that would solve the problem. Just cut those shoes right off. Plus, it was encouraging to see the little lass use some problem solving techniques. Good cognitive development there. If we play the situation out to it's logical conclusion, however, it would also open up a host of new issues. For one, we would no longer have a pair of functional Dora sneakers complete with lights in the soles. How would we ever live?

Being the good dad, I didn't get the scissors. Instead, I taught my daughter the miracle of Velcro. A little tug and a loosening of the straps works wonders.

Thus, we were free to proceed with our shoeless and sock less dinner.

Renew and Restore