Stikii’s Help Little Personalities Shine Through

Clare’s favorites part of going back to school has always been back-to-school shopping, and this year the event was more important than ever—after all, she was going into the third grade! She was excited to compare her new clothes, shoes and accessories with her friends’, just as she had every other year, and she was secretly hoping that everyone would “ohh” and “ahh” over HER outfits this year instead of Layla’s, like they normally did. As the first day of school quickly approached, Clare waited for the day her mom would say those sacred words, “Let’s go to the mall.”  

Clare’s mom knew how excited Clare was to go back-to-school shopping, but she was dreading every minute the calendar crept closer to that first day of school. She had noticed that as Clare go older, she became more and more concerned with what the other girls thought. While she understood that this was a natural part of growing up, she hated to see her little girl narrow down her likes and interests based on what her peers’ liked. It seemed as if already the individual was slowly disappearing and in its place a “typical teenaged girl” was forming.

When Clare’s mom couldn’t put if off any longer, the pair finally hit the mall. And as expected, her little girl passed up all the shirts and dresses and outfits she normally would have been all about and went straight for the stores with flashing neon lights, bright colors, loud music and pictures of little girls in variations of the same outfits looking twice their age. As Clare picked out outfits straight off the posters, Clare’s mom wished once again for that spark of individuality that characterized her little girl.

Walking hand in hand, Clare and her mom made their way down the mall with their arms full of bags from stores with names like “Jeopardy” and “That’s Cool Too.” The last item on their list was shoes.

“How about we check out that store there,” Clare’s mom said. The sign had a puppy with big floppy ears on it and the title of the store written in fun bubble letters of light green and white.

“Mom!” Clare said in a reprimanding tone, “that’s a baby store!”

“Well, let’s just check it out,” her mom said.

So they went into this bright, friendly store, and Clare was immediately sucked in. There were fun looking shoes in all colors everywhere, but better yet, there were patches shaped like mermaids and dolphins and penguins and ducks. There were patches shaped like the ABCs and numbers and baseballs and pirates. There were patches with fur and patches with buckles. There were so many options for personalization that Clare didn’t even know where to begin. So she started with a bright pink shoe…

When Clare and her mom got home that evening, Clare’s dad asked how the shopping went. Clare’s mom saw her daughter’s eyes light up as she talked about her new shoes, how she could “decorate them however I want!” and how “they can be different everyday!” All of a sudden, the catalogue clothes didn’t bother Clare’s mom anymore. Sure, Clare was growing up, but she would always find a way to express her unique personality, even if it was through a pair of shoes! Clare’s mom smiled and said, “It went great.”