The Right Shoes

My daughter was given a pair of shoes a friend's child had outgrown rather quickly. The shoes are in great shape but still several sizes too big for my child. In the car on the way home, she pestered and pestered until I agreed to let her put them on- we were going home, so it didn't really matter. As she slipped them onto her feet, she said, "I'm gonna love these shoes cause now I can run like Rachel!" My heart sank. In her 5 year old wisdom, she had decided that if she wore her friend's shoes, she could run like her friend. That was the first time she has verbalized knowing that she was somehow different from other children.