Kissing Shoes

I really really really REALLY wish I could remember where I picked up this little trick so I could properly credit the original author.  But I can't. And I googled every possible search term I could think of to find it again.  So instead I'll share my version of it.

G-Tot is getting pretty good at putting her own shoes on.  She loves her shoes and is so proud of herself when she gets them on.  Her delight is not impacted by the small fact of whether or not the shoes are on the correct feet.   I kind of like it if shoes end up on the right feet, but I do not like the extreme emotions that are expressed by G-Tot when I try to switch the shoes she so carefully put on.

Then I read about a mom who drew smiley faces with a pen on the inside of her child's shoes, like so:



Ok, it's kind of hard to see.  It's the blue spots on each shoe and I don't claim to be an artist in any form, but especially ink and rubber.  Here's a close up:



Easy so far, right?  Now I hand G-Tot her shoes, tell her to "Make them kiss".  She matches the little smiley faces complete with kissy noises and puts them on the floor, and then puts her feet in the correct shoe!  Everyone is happy.

This little trick has worked fabulously!  Now I just need to find a silver sharpie and hit her black soled ladybug boots!