Mala's Masala: The Sparkly Shoe Fund

Lately I have not been feeling creative at all. That is kind of stressful for me, especially since my livelihood depends on being creative every single day. I think I am finally succumbing to that pressure. The last thing I want to do when I come home, is be creative. There are walls in my apartment that I want to decorate with photos, there are even photos available to put up, but the sheer thought of coordinating and buying frames, and coming up with creative ways to not make my walls look like any other walls, makes me give up on the project each and every time.

However, what I cannot get away with, is being a parent. That is THE most creative job on the planet. So if you are a parent, and if you tell yourself you are not the creative type, you are lying to yourself. You might not be lying when you say you don’t have a sense of color or coordination – but a creative you are. How would you be raising kids or else? Imagine the answers you have to come up with, the solutions you need to invent, the endless stories you have to weave and the manipulation you have to resort to, to just get your child to brush her teeth.

Born from such creativity is “The Sparkly Shoe Fund”.

Last weekend, at a play date, my daughter saw these sparkly sneakers that were not only super colorful, but also lit up when you walked. Of course, she wanted them. She even promised to wear these shoes to school EVERY day. Now the “wearing it EVERY day” part was what caught my attention. As a parent, who is late to work every single morning due to shoe drama, this would be a blessing (we’ll talk about the clothes drama at a later post when I’ve had enough wine).

Even though it was an interesting solution, I had forgotten all about it (as usual) till it came up last night amidst a lot of whining. I was just coming out of a play/pool/dinner date with three girls and hearing my daughter whine was not at the top of my list. I had to make it stop. She did not need shoes and I didn’t want to say yes. But I couldn’t let go of my morning visions of no shoe drama. That’s when I saw the light and gave birth to the said fund.

I explained to her that she will have to create a fund for her shoes. I laid out the rules. The shoes cost $30 (I sure hope they are not $100 designer shoes). I would pick out chores for her and add dollar amounts to them based on level of difficulty. She could earn the money my completing the chores. If she needed my help in completing any of them, her earnings would be reduced for said task. Her first task last night was to vacuum a cobweb with a spider in it. Since she is really fearful of spiders, this task was a big ticket item set for $5. She could not muster up the courage to do it herself and requested my help. That brought it down to $2. Her first earnings.

A few other things she can earn money for her shoes, is by way of overcoming a few challenges we deal with on a daily basis. Staying awake in the car on her way home from school every evening, eating well at three meals and cleaning up her room will earn her $1. Sleeping in her own room will earn her a whopping $5. As of this moment she is sleeping in her bed, at her own wish, sans any drama – I feel like I’ve won already. In case of any kind of bad behavior, depending on the extent, she will have to pay me back from her fund.

As of last night, this girl is on a mission and so am I.

And of course, a girl has to have a sparkly shoe box for the cause!