Rachel Shoes

My kids typically have 2 or 3 pairs of shoes at any given time. Since they grow out of them so quickly, we don’t like to buy them more than that, even if they are inexpensive.

Typically we will take a trip to the Stride Rite outlet store a couple of times a year and just buy the place out. The shoes are affordable and they last through the season, which I don’t think is asking too much.

This year, my 3 year old needed shoes earlier than everyone else, so instead of taking the 40 mile trip to the outlets I shopped at a local Rack Room Shoes to find her a pair of sandals at the end of May. I picked out a ridiculously cute pair of white sandals called Marla and I figured that was it for the season.

I figured wrong. Last weekend I noticed the leather uppers of my daughter’s shoes were torn completely through. Several spots where the leather attaches to the shoe had come apart, and not from broken seams — the leather was torn.

Now, some may think that I can’t expect much from shoes that cost $20, but my 3 year old is my third child, and I have never in my life had my kids wear out a shoe before they outgrew it. I don’t have any teenagers yet, so those days are coming. But it hasn’t happened yet, even with shoes I paid a lot less for from Payless Shoe Source. These sandals only lasted a month and a half.

So, we’ll be going to the Stride Rite outlet this weekend and buying my daughter a new pair of sandals to last the rest of the summer, and we’ll only pay about $25. I wish I’d done that in the first place.