How many pairs of shoes do your toddlers have?

All this thinking about sandals has made me tempted to buy them each more than 1 pair. I'm a shoe minimalist -- I won't buy a pair of shoes for myself if I already have a pair that fills the same need. But there are so many cute sandals for little girls....

But I'm wondering, if your kids have a lot of shoes, do they (or you) get overwhelmed by the options? Right now, I sit down next to the shoe basket each morning and ask "Do you want to wear your blue shoes, black shoes, or boots?" That works pretty well. If they have 6 pairs of shoes, are they paralyzed with indecision?

Or do they latch on to just one pair and want to wear them every day, so that all the other pairs just sit there gathering dust?

 

The girls have had as many as 6-7 pairs to as few as 2....it depends on what season,style, and size they are in (as well as if Grandma bought some for them as well!!).

When they are on the verge of outgrowing a size, we often wear both sizes (6 & 6 1/2) as a transition for a while (more options for a bit of time!!) or at times they are in a size and only a few shoes fit until we buy new ones.

Summer staples: sandals, water shoes, croc rip offs
Winter: boots, snowboots, casual type (brown maryjane typey shoes from Target)

Always: sneakers, 'dress' shoes

It does seem like a lot, but really boots, crocs, & water shoes are short term things so they are not everyday shoes!

Now that they STAY in a size longer than 3-4 months I find we have more shoes. That said- I really do not pay more than 10$ for shoes and tend to buy them 'late' in season ( we got our boots in Dec for 1/2 off- we really dont get much snow before Dec here) or last season.

 

For winter, my girls had their snow boots, brown Mary Jane style shoes, and their sneakers.

For summer they'll have water shoes (we live by the lake), crocs, brown sandals, white sandals, and their sneakers.

I could go crazier in the shoe area, I'm sure (like I waivered back and forth on black dress shoes and ugg style boots for winter) but I restrain myself.

 

QUOTE(****mws**** @ Mar 4 2008, 05:31 PM) [snapback]652215[/snapback]
nope.. i aim for 3 pairs max..
sandles, tennies, and swim shoes (crocks) for swim lessons only..


Same here. But 3 pairs of shoes each is alot... but necessary here in Florida.

 

2-3 pairs a season. Dress shoes, sneakers, then either boots in winter or sandals in the summer. I'd rather spend good money on a few pairs then the same on a bunch of cheaper shoes.

 

We have one pair of tennis shoes, one pair of crocks (gift from grandma) and I had one pair of sandles for them. IF the gift woudl have been before the purchase of the sandles, the sandles would not have been bought.

 

in terms of the decision making - mine have multiple pairs of shoes, but for different purposes (dress up vs. sneakers vs. boots for example) and i tell them what their options are (e.g., alisha, do you want the black mary janes or the blue ones) - if i let her choose from all available options she would wear her purple fuzzy snow boots every day!

 

Right now, my girls only have one pair of sneakers each :blush: . Their feet seem to grow every 3 months so I just can't fathom spending the money right now. It's been cold weather here since October. When the spring comes I'll probably get them each a pair of sandals and dressy shoes as well as their sneakers but I can't see buying more than that. There is just no point right now with their feet growing so quickly. Perhaps when their foot growth slows down a little bit more or when we move to Puerto Rico where we will be outdoors a lot more, I will feel different or there will be more of a need but for now sneakers have been enough.

 

Right now they have 5 pair each. :blush: I'll be adding a pair of sandals soon.

"Play" tennis shoes
"Good" tennis shoes
Crocs
Brown dress shoes
Boots

 

Well we have a pair of sneakers, casual shoes, dressy shoes, snow boots and crocs. That's plenty for us!

 

Right now they have sneakers and cowboy boots. In Summer, they'll have sneakers, sandals, and water shoes. So no, we don't have an issue with them deciding which ones to wear because the shoes are occasion-oriented. If they had two pairs of the same type of shoe, I fear they'd have a favorite and the other pair wouldn't get worn.

I will be getting them rain boots sometime in the next week or two.

 

I guess I should specify what we do have. They each have Merrells (the "blue shoes," though they're different colors), black Mary Janes, and hiking boots (also used as snow boots).

In addition, Amy has a pair of red Mary Janes. I just happened to see them at the consignment store and they didn't have any shoes in Sarah's size (she's one size bigger). She was really into her "new red shoes" for a week or so, but they must not have been very comfy, because now she never asks for them.

In summer, of course, they have sandals instead of boots. They also each have a pair of rain boots, but I hid those away (they were both hand-me-downs) because the girls were always wanting to wear them, but it essentially never rains here. I have no problem with them wearing hiking boots all day at school, but I don't want them clomping around in rain boots.

And we have assorted pairs of hand-me-downs that didn't make it into the regular rotation, because they don't necessarily fit well even when they're the right size. Sarah fell in love with a pair of black ankle boots that were not a good fit for her cankles, so I had to hide those too.

Anyway, I'm not very picky about what they wear when. If they want to wear boots with dresses, or wear Mary Janes to the playground (a frequent occurrence), that's OK with me.

 

We usually have about 4-6 each per season...
Right now:
DS- blue low-top converse- go with jeans
Brown boots
blue + white sneakers
play sneakers- blue Old Navy w/velcro
*2 pair of sandals waiting for summer

DD- pink flower pedipeds
brown mary janes
pink/white Keds
pink/white Sketchers
*new pair of pediped flex on the way
*pair of sandals waiting for summer
*pair of summery mary jane sneakers waiting for spring

DD usually has more than DS and I know I have a problem.

 

Well, mine are preschoolers, and we get a LOT of girl hand-me-downs, but I'm going to respond based on what they actually wear currently:

Jade:
1) Brown winter Crocs
2) Purple Mary Jane Crocs
3) White sneakers
4) "Old Navy" sneakers
5) Black Mary Jane dress
6) Brown boots from the Gap
7) Black "biker" boots (hand-me-downs)
8) Snow boots
9) Rain boots

Melissa:
1) Red winter Crocs
2) Pink regular Crocs
3) White sneakers
4) "Old Navy" sneakers
5) Pink ballerina flats
6) Stride Rite Mary Jane sneakers
7) Pink "princess" boots from Walmart
8) Pink suede boots (hand-me-downs)
9) Snow boots
10) Rain boots

 

I would rather buy just 2 pairs of good shoes & that's usually what I do, but then we have tons of aunties that are also obsessed with shoes. So yes, mine do have several pairs each! I keep them in a basket up high, though......otherwise they get lost. DD is starting to get picky about what she wears, so I let her help pick out clothes, but her shoes I still pick out. I'll just grab a pair from the basket & she doesn't care (yet! )

Since we have had quite a bit given to us that I probably wouldn't have bought or just don't work with anything, I keep a couple pairs in the dress up box. Boys are definitely easier than girls, though. This winter ds had 3 pairs......one blue, one brown & one for dressy. It's so hard to keep it to 3 with girls!!

 

My boys usually have around 12-13 pairs each. This includes water shoes and sandals. I'm a little TOO obsessed with shoes and clothes in general. But thats just me.

 

Right now 1 pair of DC's and a pair of Converse that they are not quite into yet. In the summer they also have a pair of sandals and water shoes...so usually 3 pair max. My SD has 4 pair of sneakers but they all have specific uses 1 for school, 1 for PAL/sports, 1 to go to her moms in, 1 to play outside in and can get filthy, 2 dress shoes and 2 boots.

 

We have a lot of hand me down shoes. So, they have about 30 pairs between the two of them. But they mainly wear the same 2 or 3 pairs.

 

4

boots
sneakers
dress dhoes
sandals

 

We have-

Ainsley
Orthopedic shoes (last pair, yay!)
Silver shiny mary janes from Target
Black mary janes, also Target
Crocs
Boots
Bunny shoes (Gymboree novelty shoes)

Bea
Stride Rite sneakers
Pink Target mary janes
Black mary janes
Crocs
Boots
Bunny shoes (Gymboree novelty shoes)

 

When they were younger they had way more b/c we got a lot of hand me downs in sizes 3-6... but now we have 2 pairs each for the winter... 2 pairs each of tennis shoes. Now that it is warming up again, i will pull out the sandals and see what fits everyone. I think we have about 10 pairs of summer shoes total... expecting that some are too small though, left from last year. We need beach sandals, playground/ bike sandals, and a pair of lighter tennies for the summer each. If I see a good clearance, I will pick up an emergency pair of extra tennies... I am SO stingy. I do not pay more than $5/ pair for any shoes and usually can get super clearance at under $2/ pair a couple times per year at the local Toys R Us, or $0.75 at Target post- season sales. Even consignment stores are more expensive than the clearance sales on shoes.

 

Right now my boys have two pairs. One pair of stride right walking shoes, and a pair of sneakers. It's not even close enough for us to break out the sandals yet.

 

We have a number of pairs of shoes at any time.

Off the top of my head:

a couple of pairs of runners
a couple of pairs of sandals
Crocs
sparkly pink princess shoes (that I couldn't resist and Katherine loves)
rubber boots
winter boots
Robeez Booties
Robeez Shoes

We have no trouble here and no one is overwhelmed. Their shoes are a combination of "good", expensive & used (passed down & such).

 

Ah, time to 'fess up I guess. Right now the boys have the following shoes:

These are on the verge of being to small:
Navy dress shoes
Rain boots

These fit perfectly:
3 pair tennies
Crocs

These are in the 'growing into':
Crocs - next size up (we'll need before summer ends)
Snow boots (for next year)
Sandals (for next summer)

ETA: luckily, my kids couldn't care less about what I put them in (for now, at least). Joe does prefer to have pockets in his sweatshirt/jacket or pants. Other than that they have never given me a hard time about anything or indicated/demanded individual ownership over any particular item.

 

QUOTE
ETA: luckily, my kids couldn't care less about what I put them in (for now, at least). Joe does prefer to have pockets in his sweatshirt/jacket or pants. Other than that they have never given me a hard time about anything or indicated/demanded individual ownership over any particular item.


Bite your tongue! This finally crept right up and bit me. Now it's, "Pick, pick!" and "Not that kind, these pants!" and "Noooo, I don't want wear that kind shirt -- THIS kind (pointing in the general direction of the closet so I have to hold them up to the rack for something more specific)". They have squabbles also because they both want the other to wear their coordinating outfit and if the other boy doesn't agree, it's a big whine fest, "This shirt Trevor's... here Trent, you wear this one... no, no dinosaur... THIS ONE" Yesterday was "stripey" day and they had to wear striped shirts, striped underwear, and socks with stripes at the top. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! Where did the "couldn't care less" boys go?

 

they have church shoes, dress boots, snow boots, tennies, slippers, princess sparkly shoes, and some sandals.
I usually say, "put these on". If they say NO, then depending on the weather I will give them a choice of 2 shoes. Usually I'm the one trying to make the decision before I give them the choice. Lately we've had no choices b/c the sidewalk from the apt to the parking lot is completely inundated from all the melting. Waterproof snow boots is the only viable option. Problem is that Alexis needs new shoes.

 

One pair each :blush:. In the summer these are sandals and in the winter proper shoes.

Which was a bit of a disaster recently when we lost one of Tal's and had to rush out the next morning to buy them each another pair (Maia would have been very upset if Tal got new shoes and she didn't - and she's too young to understand). In the shop they each latched onto the first pair they tried on and we had to buy those as they wouldn't take them off or even consider another different pair!

So actually, Maia has 2 pairs (although she refuses to take off her new shoes - she'll even cry when she has a smelly diaper as she knows we'll have to take her shoes off to change her) and Tal has 1 1/2 pairs

lisa

 

Mine get two pairs of nice Stride Rites every season - a pair of sneakers and a pair of dressier shoes. Then they each have a pair of crocs to wear to the pool/swim lessons. So 3 pairs each.

 

Mine get two pairs of nice Stride Rites every season - a pair of sneakers and a pair of dressier shoes. Then they each have a pair of crocs to wear to the pool/swim lessons. So 3 pairs each.

 

Right now they each have 1 pair of Vans. It really sucks when they lose one and it takes me forever to find it. During the summer time they will each get a pair of Reef thongs too. They grow out of them so fast that I would have to get a part-time job to pay for their shoes for the year. KWIM?
Cari