Friday, April 17, 2015

Boots on the ground


I come from people with big feet. Not my mom so much, but she was the only girl in four generations on her father’s side, and men tend to have bigger feet. My dad was over six feet and had corresponding size twelves to stand on. My brothers the same; way over six feet. I’m thinking Melvin wore fourteens.

Foot size was not in my consciousness until after I married. My father-in-law was roughly comparable to my dad. Tall. Solid grounding. Definitely a Bohunk, as my mother-in-law proclaimed. Mom on the other hand (I never quit calling my in-laws Mom and Dad) was tiny. Her feet must have been correspondingly small; I’ve lost some of my mental image of her.

Her son had small feet. He was taller than me by a couple inches, and the length of his feet didn’t strike me as unusual, probably because I could conveniently slip into his slippers and be done with them before he got out of bed in the morning. Then I realized my brothers called him Twinkle Toes.

We divorced, he moved his Twinkle Toes to my best friend’s house and that was pretty much the end of it, excepting the genetics he left behind. Each of my daughters inherited his small feet, and the youngest inherited her Grandma’s stature, too. Five foot two, eyes of blue as the old song went.

Ms. Five Foot Two has three small daughters. Rebekah is over 21 and under five feet. Emily is 16, and approaching five foot two. Laura is 13, and we hope not done growing. She needs to catch up to the feet she got from my side of the family.

Emily needed boots two summers ago, when she began working at Heritage Farms; I outfitted her and she trudged through a year at the farm and a winter at the ski run. Now she is working at the nursery across the road. 

Last weekend she brought the condition of her footwear to my attention. I can tell you, I would not like to bounce a bale of peat moss off my big toe, outfitted in those worn out boots. We went shopping for Timberland’s, like the big boys wear.

Except—those tiny feet on my little granddaughter.

Of course, the smallest size in the store was too big. An inventory search of the stores (a modern miracle, those computers these youngsters use) showed the closest pair of size 6.5’s in Cincinnati, Ohio. We asked to have them shipped in, and they arrived today.




Still too big. We should have gone with our first choice, the sixes. They’re on the way now, from Indiana.


29 comments:

  1. Would steel toes help? I come from a family of big foots. I have the smallest feet in the family, but I'm also the shortest.

    Love,
    Janie

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  2. my daughter is also small, not quite 5'. and she has small feet too. smaller even than Emily's.

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  3. I am always a little envious of people with small feet. Those with medium size feet get the best selection of all.

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  4. I am always a little envious of people with small feet. Those with medium size feet get the best selection of all.

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  5. I wore my Timberland hiking boots for many a mile hiking in MN. Love those boots! Something has changed since my teenage years. My mom wore a 5 1/2 . I was already into 7 1/2 early. That was scandalous. In my circle, big feet were not something to be proud of for a girl. I was 3 inches taller than my mom, which did help some. But now, my granddaughter is 5 ft. 3 and wears a size 10 or 11. She likes her shoes big; no embarrassment there, How things change! I do hope the sixes fit your Emily. Congratulations on that work ethic she has.

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  6. My mother had long feet. My father had broad feet. I inherited from them both. To the point that sales assistants have directed me to mens wear for sandals because we 'don't have them THAT big'.
    I hope your tiny footed grand-daughters new boots arrive quickly. They look really good too.

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  7. Thank God stores can send things from store to store when they don't have exactly what you need. Of course that only works in chain stores and more and more those seem to be going the way of the dodo bird.

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  8. That is good you can order them to get the size she needs. I'm a size 10. Growing up it was not a popular size like it is now, the choices were limited. I always wanted smaller feet.

    betty

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  9. Well, if Emily is that tiny, I think her grandma is not very tall either, judging by the picture in your sidebar - c'mon, fess up, Joanne!

    I hope the sixes fit perfectly.

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    Replies
    1. I was 5'6" until just a few years ago, when I fractured vertebrae in my back. Now I say I'm 5'3", but that may be a stretch.

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  10. The largest shoe size in my family is a 15. We also have extraordinarily wide feet... my oldest son takes a quadruple E width. On top of that high insteps and high arches abound. It makes it very difficult to buy shoes.

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  11. The Jennling is 4'10" and wears size 5's.... Finding shoes for her is an ongoing battle, usually resolved in the kid's section. I wear 6.5-7, but when it comes to sneakers I find a boy's size 5 is a perfect fit.

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  12. I'm five feet tall and have size 61/2 feet, but they're wide so most 6 1/2s don't fit, they're too tight across the toes and balls of my feet. I wear a wide fitting boy's sneaker instead. Dress shoes are impossible.

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  13. Hari OM
    I too am 4'10" and a 5, like Jacqueline's Jennling... my mother's mother all over again..... AND have been known to raid the kids department... Always found that boots could bear to be a half size bigger though... filled with socks as they often are... YAM xx

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  14. When I was growing up, all the girls seemed to wear size 6 or 7, but I took 9 and was embarrassed about my big feet. Now, however, when I buy shoes, the size 9 seems to be the most popular and the one that they seem to not be able to keep on the shelves. Times change.

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  15. I cam from a family of petite folks with small feet..the hubs as well....BUT my grandfather on my mothers side was over six feet and had ginormous feet. My daughter is 5'6" which is 5 and a half inches taller than her mom (me) and wears a size nine shoe. Yikes. Thanks grandad.

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  16. I'm 5ft 6 and wear a 6 or 6 1/2 depending on manufacturer. I managed to get boots to fit ..now I'm dreading the summer sandal search.
    Jane x

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  17. I think I've found peace with my feet; I basically don't care any more. Size 10. I'm slightly under 5'6", but still, that's pretty big. But I come by them honestly. My 6'3" father wore a size 13. I've produced a 6'5" son whose feet must be about a 14 or 15, although my daughter is a full foot shorter at 5'5", with size 81/2 feet.

    If it makes your granddaughter feel any better, a friend of mine (about 5') wears a size 4 1/2. Really. She often has to go to the children's department - increasingly problematic when you're in your 60s.

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  18. the things we won't do for shoes that fit, I get the same old clod hoppers (Dr. Scholl's black uglies with arch support) and buy extras in case the others wear out or they quit making them. moved in with your best friend, what a shame, I am 5'2" and used to wear a 5 1/2 but now a 6 but it has to be wide, it's very hard to find wide widths.

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  19. I take size six - pity we don't live nearer - I have several pairs of walking boots I can no longer wear!!

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  20. I just looked it up. Seems that 7.5 is about average. I'm average.

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  21. I wear a size 9. My daughter wears a size 11. I always wanted dainty feet. Nope. I have big galumpshas. (Feet, not breasts....don't have those anymore.....)

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  22. I drew the card for short and small feet. Now my oldest gr-daughter realizes she not be tall like her sister. I told her that its fine. She'll run the country someday.

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  23. I've got big feet. My daughter inherited her father's dainty feet. In this day and age with the abundance of shopping opportunities we have, we can find shoes no matter the size.

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  24. I'd say that is great store service for your granddaughter. Some stores just blink their eyes and say no not available without checking. So goes the world today. But at least her big toe will be safe after she gets her sixes. -- barbara

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  25. My feet are short but wide. It is very difficult to find shoes that fit. I gave up ballroom dancing for that reason.

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  26. I don't know if you have a Tractor Supply store nearby, but their boots (for both sexes) are great for outdoor work. I just put on mine before reading your blog... these aren't steel-toed (those I wear when working in Maine), but sturdy... and last through a lot of hard use.

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  27. Hi my uk size 3 that's 36 Europe, don't know in USA feet walked to your blog. Having small feet I have not had the luxury of developing a love of shoes like other woman. I grew up taking what fit regardless of style. Online has changed that. Perhaps the answer for your granddaughters is Internet. I'm now able to see what the fuss is about and guiltily buy shoes purely because I like them.

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