Blacking my shoes

Yesterday I was looking at my shoes and thinking that the white scuff marks on the front of my black shoes didn't look very good. It suddenly occurred to me that we had blacking (or whatever it's called) for black shoes...and that I could easily improve the appearance of my shoes. So I got it out and the liquid wouldn't come out onto the pad, so I kind of shook it a little. :-P And it ran down my shoe and all over the floor, making a bit of a mess. At just that moment, both my toddlers walked into the bathroom where I was.

Felicity looked at the mess and commented on it, "It's a mess. It's a mess, Mommy. You made a mess." Then she looked at me, "It's okay!" And then she offered to help me clean it up. :-P

And it was kind of a strange feeling, because it struck me that her response to my mess was far more gracious than my responses to hers usually are. :-P Most of the time, when I see her respond to things, I see her mimicking what she has seen me do. But this time was definitely an exception. Instead of harping on the importance of me not making messes (like I would normally do with her), she felt badly for me; I could see it on her face. And she offered to help and let me know that it was okay.

Now, since I didn't black stuff everywhere, I asked her to help me by caring for Mary instead...

But anyhow...lessons from a two year old, eh?

After I cleaned up my mess and got my shoes blacked, I realized that my other black shoes that hadn't been fit to be seen in public for some time could probably stand to be blacked as well. So now I have three pairs of presentable shoes to wear. And all without spending money! Hooray. :-)