Haha! Great story! Of course they're new shoes!

My eight-year-old is running us ragged with those stupid elves. We had to get two because the first one was a "boy" and it was supposed to be a girl. Then of course they each needed a "pet". So now my wife and I have little contests to see who has to be the one to find hiding places/activities for each of these stupid things to do every night. I usually win at paper-rock-scissors but she kicks my ass on coin-flips, odd/even, and high-card.

As for the little squatter....we've got twin boys with Autism who are 19 and will probably never be completely potty trained. I can't tell you the joys of changing them on a daily basis. I've got shoes dedicated to only dealing with that. Yikes!

Yes, the memories will be good. But I can't wait until they're actually memories and not daily occurences. :-)

Keep up the good work! It's fun to read your stuff....