Writer B

You know those shoes that look fantastic and make you feel like you’re walking on air and go with dressy clothes or casual clothes and don’t cost very much and last forever and never go out of style? Those are my ideal shoes. But, as with most ideals, the problem is that I don’t think they exist.

So, in the absence of my fantasy shoes, I’d have to say my white fashion sneakers are my ideal shoes. I’d love to say that my nude heels take the cake (I am a fan of nude heels), but they’re hardly necessary when driving kids to and from school every day, and they’re downright impractical when walking my little guys through rocky gravel to the park. My sneakers, though, they drive kids and walk kids like a charm.

I’d be tempted to say that flip-flops are my ideal shoes, because they definitely do the trick when I’m rushing out the door with said children. But, as a mom, I like making it a point to dress up a little (and resist the temptation of middle class suburban moms to always wear yoga pants), and my flip-flops just don’t support me in that goal. In addition, I spend enough time in meetings or leadership roles of one kind or another during any given week that I’m afraid flip-flops would begin to undermine my professionalism. Also…they’re loud. When I’m trying to move stealthily through the house so my two-year-old doesn’t hear me and start whining for my attention (yes, I hide from my kids sometimes), flip-flops give me away. Sneakers? They sneak.

My white fashion sneakers are the best. Besides being comfortable, practical, and quiet, they’re fashionable enough to not look sloppy, and all the more when I wear them with a skirt, which is one of my most favoritest looks. That’s right, most favoritest. The skirt says “I may be a mom of four boys but I can still dress like a girl,” and the shoes say “I’m quiet, comfortable, and practical, but if you look at Pinterest, I also adorn the feet of celebrities.”

I guess that’s kind of like me. Comfortable, practical, and quiet, and also a little bit fashionable. Except that part about adorning the feet of celebrities. Because that would be weird. But if I were a shoe…maybe I would.

Writer D

I do not own my ideal pair of shoes. In fact, I could really use some recommendations. This year is a pretty significant transition in life for me, because I just weaned my last baby. After over 9 years of being pregnant or nursing, I am moving out of the baby stage into a new adventure of keeping up with my four little boys instead of just feeding them. There are more than a few things I am excited about, ranging all the way from wearing sundresses more to wading creeks and climbing waterfalls more. So I need a pair of sandals that can do both, and everything in between. If you know of any, please let me know!

I must admit that I cringed when I read this prompt. I have never been into shoes, and admittedly associate them with all things girly girl, which I have never been. I buy a good, practical pair of leather boots every few years and wear them every day until they officially die. That is, I wear them three fourths of the year here in Wisconsin. The remaining fourth, glorious summer, I wear grubby tennis shoes in the garden or on hikes and pine for my ideal pair of sandals, which I have never found.

I have never found them for a couple telling reasons.  The first reason being that I hate shopping, with a passion. I would honestly rather get my teeth pulled. My parents shopped me out when I was a kid, I mean much more than one lifetime’s worth. So I would rather live without whatever I need than go through the torture of trudging through the stores to find it.

The second reason, I imagine, now that I stop to think about it, is that I don’t know how to talk to other women about shoes. I guess the tomboy in me feels rather clumsy and out of place in such conversations, so I avoid them wherever possible.

I guess I’d better say thanks for asking here, I really didn’t think I could possibly type for 15 minutes about shoes!

Writer A

I am NOT a shoes person. I kind of want the shoes the kid invents in the movie ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,’ because they stay on your feet forever, and then I would never again have to think about shoes. I would love to never buy another pair of shoes or try to decide which  ones go with my outfit.

My favorite shoes ever fell apart and I had to throw them away, and I miss them. They were my favorite because they were a color between gray and cream, which was nice because I could wear them with brown OR black (or whatever else). They were not very expensive and they were square-toed, which I like simply because I like the way square-toed shoes look, and they’re actually weirdly hard to find, at least at the cheap places that I shop.

They also had a heel. Not a hugely high heel. Just enough heel to make me like the shape of my legs better. I admit I’m vain enough to care about that. But even though they had a heel, they were super comfortable.

These shoes made jeans look less grungy. That was their biggest advantage to me. I wear jeans 99% of the time that I’m wearing grown-up clothes, a.k.a. when I’m not wearing pajamas. So my shoes upped my look. That was helpful. I don’t like to spend a lot of time on my look. My tops are usually T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts, so grungy shoes make me look like I’ve given up.

I hate fancy shoes. So much. I hate strappy shoes too. Any shoes that take any amount of time to put on will almost never go on my feet. I go to fancy things about twice a year.

Flip flops are not my favorite shoes, which might surprise people who know me. If it’s warm enough to wear flip flops, I’d rather go barefoot! Barefoot’s the best!

I have two young kids but no, they don’t require me to wear tennis shoes in order to “chase them around,” which is a phrase I hear other moms using, and I can’t picture exactly what they mean by it. Are they playing tag with their kids, or constantly snatching them from dangerous situations? When my children are running, I’m usually standing there. Watching. Or, you know … glancing up.

I live in Wisconsin and snow boots are really, really not my favorite either. My husband finally made me buy some. Honestly it took some firm persuasion from him to get me to try them on and spend money for them. That was good money that I could have spent on craft supplies.

This was our prompt:

Describe your ideal pair of shoes (whether you own them or not) – 15 minute challenge