My 4-Year-Old Doesn't Need High Heels

By Amy Shearn, REDBOOK.

Much has already been said about the trend of high heels and other "mini-me" versions of adult fashions. One complaint: They're a bit sexy for little girls who might still sleep in pull-ups. Another: They look "just like mommy's," which is what draws in many kids. Except a 4-year-old girl's job is not to imitate mommy, but to be her own tiny, forming human.

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I personally don't have to worry about it, because even though my daughter loves to clomp around in whatever high heels she can magically excavate from the inner reaches of my closet, she's more invested in being able to run around efficiently. Because really, maxi-dresses and wedges are not apparel for kids that age.

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For all my eye-rolling at Harper's preferred pink/sparkly/ruffly everything and deep inner longing for light-up sneakers, I also love how she is unapologetically, completely her. When she goes to pre-K in the fall, I want her to wear something she loves. She's a kid. She needs shoes she can easily kick off at the sight of a sandbox or puddle.

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They grow up so fast. It's practically the mantra of parenting, and somehow it seems particularly true when it comes to girls. Yes, it amuses us when kiddos wear grown-up things and act like characters from Wes Anderson movies, but I want my daughter to act like a carefree little kid for as long as she can. After all, that's her job right now, a fact that can be weirdly hard to remember in our grow-up-now world of toddler flash cards, pre-pre-preschool, and yes, baby high-heels.

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