“For her first year, our daughter either went barefoot or in slippers, and I often found it hard to believe that her tiny little feet (almost as wide as they were long) would ever require real shoes. Once she 'graduated' to the Toddler Room at daycare, however, my husband and I were gently told that she would now need shoes with hard soles so that she could join the other kids in playground time. As my mother did before me and probably her mother before her, I went right to Stride-Rite and bought a pair of red leather Mary Janes with rubber soles - shoes in which our daughter learned first to walk and then to run and climb and slide. The shoes have been wonderful, not only because they are adorable and receive lots of compliments, but because they were her first pair of real shoes; the shoes that allowed her to first walk on pavement, first run on the beach, first splash in puddles, and first feel a small taste of the joy of being strong and mobile and free to go wherever you want. Recently - this time with some gentle prodding from my husband - I had to acknowledge that the shoes no longer fit, and so they went into the box of things from my daughter's childhood that I keep because I can't bear to part with them. And I've replaced them with a new pair of red leather Mary Janes - this time from the wonderful company See Kai Run, the Stride Rite for this generation - in which I hope she will have a whole new set of adventures and splash in a whole new set of puddles.”

Editor’s Note: Kate’s daughter has been rocking the See Kai Run Hailey shoes (available at Piperlime and Amazon). Now officially smitten with SKR shoes, they also have the Rayah model (see Piperlime’s Rayah availability and Amazon’s Rayah availability.