Monday, February 18, 2008

picking my battles...



We've all heard the adage pick your battles. For me, it was given as a bit of marital advice from a dear friend at a bridal shower. However, since John and I rarely even so much as argue, I haven't (until now) had much use for it. It's a wise proverb though, and one I had planned on keeping close at hand, and referring to often during Ruby's years of adolescence...ha ha. Little did I know that she would come pre-packaged possessing a significant amount of defiance, and that this little personality trait would manifest itself almost immediately upon her exiting my womb. Ah, my little Ruby girl. My little audacious, mutinous, resistant, and sassy little Ruby girl.
As I've previously stated, Ruby loves my shoes. And notwithstanding the fact that they weigh three times as much as mine, she loves her daddy's shoes, too. She has recently taken a liking to flip flops, and even surprises us by putting them on properly...strap between the first and second toes. But above all else, she loves my heels...pumps, stilettos, wedges - you name it - anything that makes a clip-clop. If ever she has "disappeared" within the walls of our own house, I can almost always count on finding her inside my closet, exploring amongst all the shoes. (A true girl, I must say...and one with great taste, too.) So anyway, the other day I was trying to get her to remove my shoes from her feet and replace them with hers so that we could go run some errands. This is where her defiant little personality - the one that I previously mentioned - comes in to play. To say it simply...she threw a fit. The harder I tried to pry them from her feet, the louder she wailed, and the deeper her little red face became...until I thought it would pop like a cherry tomato. It was now my time to decide if this was really worth the battle...and I decided that it wasn't...and so off we went. A mother, and her 20 month old baby - both wearing ladies shoes, size 7.5 - both feeling rather triumphant and victorious. Me, because I relinquished the conflict, and her, well because she feels like a princess in mom's shoes. She got lots of smiles from strangers as she clip-clopped through Kinko's, and then into Barnes & Noble. Lots of smiles, and lots of laughs, and plenty of praise through flattering words such as "oh my, what a pretty little girl", and "oh, wow, so grown up in such pretty shoes". One couple even stopped to ask if they could take a picture of her. She was loving it. And I loved watching her parade through the stores and parking lots as if she owned them all...



No, definitely not "battle" worthy at all.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great Grandma Pitts would be so proud! If anyone loved shoes as much as you, Nicole, and obviously as much as Ruby does, it was my mom! :-)

Travis and Teresa Wilson said...

I must say I am very impressed with how well she can walk in those shoes. You have such a cute little girl.

Amy Eagleston said...

I am amazed at how well she can walk in those shoes. That is pretty amazing and seeing as she can walk so well in them and they don't seem to slow her down one bit I think you made the right chose in not chosing this battle as one you would fight.

Unknown said...

This is so funny! Kaitlin loves to walk around in my shoes too! The higher the heel, the better! But I must say that she has nothing on Ruby! She walks in those shoes like they are her own! I could never let Kaitlin out of the house in my shoes, she would probably fall and bust her lip!

Danielle said...

Lol! What a doll that Ruby is, I just love her! I am so impressed with how well she walks in your heels. Seriously, it took weeks of practicing how to do the proper pageant walk... but here she is mastering the catwalk in heels even before she's two-years-old. A future Miss Arizona in our midst, perhaps?

Blackner Family said...

So funny!! I love that you let her wear them everywhere!! I always tell Matt that although Baylee's stubborness and persistence isn't getting us anywhere today, one day I am sure it will be how she gets straight A's and helps end world hunger!!!

Blackner Family said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Blackner Family said...

Sorry, I posted the same comment twice and so had to erase one of them!

Julia Kelly said...

i love it! the other day we went to barnes and noble with Loraya wearing her cinderella dress over her clothes and her snow boots.(wasn't snowing, not even a little bit) and Isaac was wearing his elmo slippers. i'm sure we were quite the group to behold. :) like you said, not worth the fight!

Bowdens said...

That is so cute! It is amazing how well she can walk in your shoes!! She has some awesome coordination!By the way, how are you? We need to get together sometime!

Sonja said...

You are SO wise!
What a lucky girl that Ruby is. I love the way you put these experiences in writing. It's such a joy to read. I miss you guys.

Hey, I have an award for you on my blog. :D

Kat and Steve said...

You know what, she can walk better in heels than I can. She's obviously had some practice. I guess since she's so good at it, it really isn't worth the battle. So funny!

Celeste said...

Oh my goodness Nicole, what a cutie! She has girl written all over her. It is so so true about picking your battles though. The older Ty gets the more and more I have to use that adage. Thanks so much for having us come with you guys last night to the temple exhibit. We had so much fun! We need to get together to do things like that more often.

Mary-Sunshine said...

I LOVE IT!!!! She is such a little princess! I wish I could have seen it in person! She walks like a pro already! She should be struttin her stuff down the runway!

diana said...

what a babe. you're a better mom than i... i probably would've fought and fought until i had it my way. i need to take a lesson or two from you.

Laurel said...

Wow! For such a simple video of a cute little girl walking in the street, I can't believe how FUNNY that was! She doesn't struggle one bit, does she? She's always so cute!

Des said...

LOVE IT! She is amazing at walking/running in those shoes! And she has wonderful style!

daniell miner said...

she is soo cute! that is awesome u let her out of the house with ur shoes on! she reminds me of my brae when it comes to stubborness! but can u blame her, she know you have cute shoes!

The Schramm Family said...

Oh my that is the cutest little girl. I used to love to wear my mom's high heels on the kitchen floor to hear that same little clip clopping noise. So glad you got some pictures, she will look back and laugh. I also used to like to wear my big sisters shoes to preschool.
p.s. You write so well. I love reading your blog :)