Simple Genius

Big Kid, bless his big sweet heart, is in second grade now and is still clumsy with shoe-tying. He just takes forever and since our time in the mornings is limited, I often just do it for him so we can get it done right the first time and get moving. He favors Crocs and what we call his Hef loafers (we leave Hef out of it when he's around, but they are some pimp-ass shoes) so his feet don't get squished, but I'm sure it helps that he doesn't have to deal with tying those two pairs.

But lately I realize that he needs to get more proficient with the shoe tying, so I've been making him wear his Vans and having him tie them himself. Yesterday I told him to tie his shoes while I finished getting dressed. I walked back into the room and was angry when I saw him sitting on the couch without shoes on.

And then I saw his perfectly tied shoes sitting neatly beside him.

He had tied his shoes, he just didn't put them on his feet first. He also had his socks on wrong--this has been a problem for years now. Big Kid is baffled by socks. Yes, he can tell you the gestation period of kangaroos, what month and year the original Super Mario Bros came out and has been making a master list of homophones for fun this week...but that stripe across the toe, gray patch at the heel business? It's too much. It's up there with zippers; the concept just completely eludes him.

When I pointed out the error of his shoe-tying ways, he was so chagrined that I couldn't even feel frustrated about it. He had indeed tied his shoes--maybe it was my instructions that were the problem.