Shoes? No, thanks!

March 2007


December hates shoes. I don't understand this crazy feeling, but she refuses to wear them! I tried again yesterday to put shoes on her feet. This time I decided to put on those soft shoes, almost like slippers, without rubber soles. Surely she wouldn't mind that, right?!?


Wrong. As soon as I got them on her feet and stood her up, she started whining and crumpled to the ground. She refused to walk -- or even stand! She crawled along on the ground for a few paces. Then, she forgot she had shoes on her feet and began to stand. It didn't take long for her to remember those weird things that were strapped to her feet, and she crumpled down to the floor again, whining louder. I watched her antics for a while, trying not to show her that I thought it was quite funny, and then I thought, "I know: if anything can get her to walk, it would be a cookie!" So I went to the kitchen for a chocolate chip cookie, December's kryptonite.


I stood a ways away from her and held out the cookie. She hadn't moved. She showed immediate interest in the cookie and flailed about, trying to figure out a way she could get the cookie by not using her shoed feet. I waited, coaxing her. I was really suprised at her stubbornness! It wasn't like she couldn't get up and grab the cookie...she just wouldn't. She never did get her treat. Walking with shoes on her feet just wasn't worth a cookie to her.

December is smarter than I think she is. She knows a whole lot more than I think she does. For example, when she wants a snack, she comes and gets my attention by staring up at me and saying, "Nn! Nn! Nn!" She waits until I start to follow her, then she leads me to the kitchen and stands right under the counter where I keep the snacks. She points upward and says again, "Nn! Nn!" She has been doing this for a few weeks, but I'm still so amazed by this! I was just reminded of it again because she just made me follow her to get a snack right now. What did she want this time? A chocolate chip cookie, of course.