Sometimes Shoes are the Bane of my Existence

Shoes.  I really have a love-hate thing going on with them.  I do love that they keep our feet warm and dry.  I love finding them on clearance, or at a thrift store in great condition.  I'll admit that I love wearing cute ones, and I love seeing my kids in cute shoes too.

But I hate, oh, how I hate the way they attempt to take over my front room every day.  The way they seem to multiply overnight, filling up the coat closet with cleats that don't fit anyone, and sandals that are way out of season.  They way they pile up in corners, and inside every door, everywhere but on the actual "shoe shelf" where they belong.

I promise I cleaned this closet out not that long ago.  Heck, we've only lived here less than four months!  But last night, I went to put away my own pair of shoes, and not only could I not fit them on the shoe shelf, I almost couldn't find the shoe shelf, and I definitely couldn't close the closet door.

It was one of those "last straw" situations.

I called my kids in and directed one of them to pull all the shoes out of the closet, and another to sweep it afterwards, as it had a nice soft blanket of pine needles covering the floor.

There were still more in the closet...

 My father-in-law is visiting this week, and was watching all of this, and when he saw the size of the pile of shoes that came out of the closet, he laughed and said, "I'm sorry, but that is really funny."  (Yeah, funny to the guy who doesn't have to remind his kids to put away their shoes every day...)

Which got me thinking.  Why are my kids so bad at putting their shoes away?  Sure, part of it is that they're kids, which means that they automatically shed shoes, coats and backpacks as they walk into the house.  But that doesn't account for the sheer volume of shoes, the monster pile that spilled out of the closet and thwarted our efforts to close the door.

I decided that there was no way we were wearing all of those shoes.  Not only because of the large number, but also because we couldn't even see the back of the closet, so surely there were pairs lost in the depths, possibly out of season or not even fitting anyone.

I announced that everyone was to put the two pairs of shoes they wear most on the shelf, move all cleats and sports shoes to the bin in the garage, the snow boots (it doesn't even snow here - why did everyone have a pair of boots out?) into the bin in the basement, and then we'd see what we were left with.

Surprise, surprise.  The boys only have two useful pairs to begin with, so they were done after they took all the extras downstairs.  But the girls each had an extra pair or two of non-essential, just cute for the sake of cute, shoes.  I had them move them into their closet in their room, with the intent being that they can rotate them in for the ones in the coat closet.

And with that, the coat closet was clean.  Organized.  Neat.  Not-overflowing.

I am definitely pleased, but not completely satisfied with this arrangement, however.  I don't have high hopes that the girls' "extra" shoes will stay in their bedroom, neatly trading places with the two pair on the shelf upstairs.  I'm pretty sure they'll end up crammed in there, taking up more than their fair share of space, and we'll have to start all over in a few months.

But it's a start.

Kate