Connor has a pair of Columbia hiking boots that he usually wears to school. They are lovely shoes, perfect for Scottish rural life but unfortunately the left shoe looks very similar to the right shoe. There aren't any obvious external markers on the shoes to indicate to a child which is which e.g. straps or a cartoon character on the side which might show a child which foot the shoe goes on.
I used to get super-annoyed with Connor for putting on the wrong shoe on the wrong foot especially as he tends to do so when we're rushing to/from school. But looking back, I couldn't really blame him as even I had probs telling the right shoe apart from its partner.
One day, I had a Mummy Lightbulb Moment.
I was marking all his school belongings with his name when it hit me.
What I did was after writing his name on the clothing tags, I simply added in an "L" on the inside of the left shoe. The right shoe got the letter "R". So now Connor has a clear visual clue which shoe goes on which foot.
Guess what?
He's never put the wrong shoe on the wrong foot since. Not only that, it helps with reading... "L.... L is for left!"
Why didn't I think of it earlier? Now all his school shoes are labelled with his name AND the letters L/R. We've never had a problem with putting on shoes ever since.
Aha! Clever mommy:)
ReplyDeleteIt's one of those things that after you've done it, you think, "It was SO obvious right from the start... why did it take me so long to realise it!" Highly recommended tactic for children learning to dress themselves.
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