I give up.
Can I do that? Give up? Totally throw my hands up in the air and proclaim defeat in this all out war I have been having for the past several years? Can I just decide that I no longer want to attempt to claim victory in this impossible fight to the finish, that I have been defeated and accept this as my fate? Can I just hand the trophy over to my son’s feet that have managed to cost me hundreds of dollars in trying to keep them covered properly?
Because seriously, I’m done. And I’m tired of trying to prove otherwise.
I mean, there is a vicious cycle going on here, and I truly thought it was my fault. I was buying him inexpensive shoes, my lame attempt at being frugal. I would save money by going for the $20 shoes. After all, he was just going to grow out of them anyway. So why spend $50 or more on shoes that wouldn’t fit him in probably 8 months time? It didn’t make sense. Except that $20 shoes on my son meant they were more like disposable shoes – not lasting more than 2 months, oftentimes less than that.
So I learned my lesson. I bought him expensive shoes. I paid more for his shoes than I spend on my own shoes. We got him those trendy skater shoes that all the boys wear, and his feet looked sharp. The soles were thick. The canvas was sturdy. Those shoes promised to be indestructable, and there was no way he was going to bust them up like the old ones.
Yeah. Right.
Wait, let me give you a closer look.
These shoes darn near talk, they are so busted. And they are his third pair since June – his third pair of $50+ shoes. Through kickball, skateboarding, and just plain scuffing his feet along the pavement for no reason I can think of except he was trying to give his toes a little mouth to breathe out of, he has annihilated them and is now in need of another pair of shoes.
So I’m done. At this point, I’m thinking I’ll either let him walk around barefoot, or I’ll invest in some metal shoes that are sure to withstand all the abuse he puts them through – as well as being too heavy to even lift. Except he’d probably end up busting out of those ones too.
Of course, I could always resort to duct tape like I did last year….
Wine Country Mom 
Duct tape works, at least in the short term of course, but it seems to me that you were on the right track with the inexpensive shoes. You switched to the pricier shoes for a good reason, an attempt to prove a hypothesis…but that theory was miss-proven…your son’s destructiveness to shoes trumps quality of footwear…in which case, I think, it is time to return to cheap shoes.
When I was in high school (not for destructive reasons…I don’t actually know why…) i practically lived in those cheap canvas shoes from the drug store that cost about $5. You could give those a shot and see how they work. When they are destroyed before their time, you are out just a few dollars.
Alternately, you could make him wear totally uncool, super sturdy shoes…like…heavy leather orthopedic shoes or something similarly unattractive and near indestructible, and let him know he can have cool shoes again when he learns not to destroy them…but, heck…he’s an active kid, so aside from the scuffing, I think his shoes jut get a lot of wear and tear. I’d try the super cheep shoes.
In other news, there is a chipmunk perched on on my wood pile outside my window and it is utterly adorable. Just wanted to share that.
How about the Vans outlet store in Petaluma. From a skaters perspective, it’s nice to have real skate shoes from a company that gives truly supports skateboarding and skateboarders.
You also need to solve the problem of the disappearing sweatshirts and jackets. Short of writing the Taz’s name on the backs with dayglow colors, I’m at a loss. Every year we buy him beautiful clothes to keep him warm, and every year he loses each and every one of them. It was so nice taking him to the City this weekend with his last sweatshirt that had torn sleeves and looked like a reject from the Salvation Army. At least he was comfortable as he ran through the Exploratorium!