I’m happy to report that the coiled shoelaces on the original, secondhand Stride Rites work beautifully!

We had tried to teach him the double-knot, but he always got it in a huge tangle which worsened the situation. I think he may not be old enough, either with finger dexterity and/or confidence.

We’re still working on those skills every day, but these $1.50 laces can make any shoe find workable. I’m so relieved!

Now I need to find warm church shoes for two of my girls! Really hoping the thrift store has something. They’ve been wearing tennies to church the last three weeks as well.

I like the strategy of saying, “You’re probably right” and then doing my own thing. That sounds like just my style! Thank goodness my family members are frugal too. And my friends give me stuff. So I try not to be too vocal about what I’m looking for anymore–don’t want to sound like I’m begging! :0 I really enjoy yard saling/treasure hunting anyway.

Regarding those Hanna underwear (!) my children had never complained about their hand-me-down brands either (they’ve only ever worn hand-me-down underwear, even though some people think that’s ew!), but when I had to buy new, I decided to give them a try at my friend’s urging. I think my kids like that they’re thick and soft and there are no elastic bits exposed anywhere. We’ve never bought Hanna clothing but have “inherited” several pieces through the years and I have found the clothing to be of exceptional quality. The tights can be worn heavily with no pilling or tears, and handed down to the next child. Again, we’ve never bought new, except for the underwear!

As for the topic of this week’s post, when I am “urged” by others to spend $ on things, and if I know the person will not be receptive to my counter argument, I usually smile and say, “Yes, you’re probably right,” but keep doing what I’m doing. My MIL is instantly appeased when I say that, as if I’m at least acknowledging that her argument has merit. She spent her early married life scraping together meals from pennies, and now that she can afford convenience, she can’t imagine why I would intentionally create more work for myself when I don’t always “have” to. My own mother finally bought us a microwave because she was frustrated during visits that she couldn’t reheat something in one. I could never justify the cost of a microwave, even though we could afford one, because we had other ways of heating food that didn’t actually take very long–the stove or oven.

Sorry to fill up all the comment space!

I worried a lot about untied shoe laces as a child. My Mom taught me how to double knot them and it worked beautifully. I didn’t worry and the shoes stayed tied. I taught both of my kids how to double knot their laces. They do it every day without thinking. No floppy shoe laces dragging on the ground!

Andrew says the first lace-up pair is the most comfortable of all the shoes we’ve tried. It is only the constant tying and retying that has him angry.

If he had really loved the new shoes, I would have exchanged them for the larger size.

One morning they were fighting before school–turns out they were engaged in a literal tug-of-war over the last pair of clean Hanna underwear in the pile. “Mommy! I LOVE this underwear!” said my older daughter.

The younger daughter started crying, “Why does SHE get to wear them? They feel good and I want to wear them.”

I bought another pack.

Hope the laces work!