Fast Shoes

Ask any kid...preferably between the ages of 3-6 and you can guarantee that on their feet

or in their closet lies a pair of "fast shoes". I've been working with preschoolers to 1st graders for almost 4 years now and they all have them.

It has become an inevitable warm-up question to get a child (usually a boy) talking.

I've been doing some testing these past few weeks and while I was building up some rapport I noticed a young man fussing over his shoes. I figured these were his "fast shoes" and I decided this was an opportune time to dig into the mind of the young male kind.

Our conversation was as follows:

Me (in an amazed and animated voice):

Are those your "fast shoes"?

Boy:

(nods yes)....

Well, no. These are my FASTEST shoes.

(stated in the most matter-of-fact tone he could muster)

Me:

Oh, really?! What makes a shoe fast?

Boy:

Well....*thinking*....*still thinking*...

All fast shoes are Red, Brown, Black, Blue,...or 'Golden'.

Oh, and they have to have "pricklies" on the bottom.

(pointing to the rubber traction on the sole of his shoe)

Me:

Fast shoes can only be red, brown, black, or blue?

Boy:

Or Golden.

Me:

Oh, right, or golden. So, my shoes are fast then, right?

(I was wearing brown flats that have a flower on the top)

Boy:

(His hand goes to his chin thoughtfully as he examines my shoes).

*shaking his head, shamefully* Nope.

Me:

What do you mean, no?! They are brown!

Boy:

Yeah, but they don't have any "pricklies"!!

Me:

Oh.

Boy:

Do you know what else Ms. Bailey?

Me:

What else?

Boy:

They're fastest if they have these things ...

(gesturing to the velcro straps across the top of his shoes)

Me:

Straps?

Boy:

MAYBE if you had straps your shoes could be fast like mine... Maybe.

As the week progressed I noticed that every boy I tested had on a red, brown, black, blue, or 'golden' pair of shoes. Each time I asked "are those your fast shoes?" I received a positive answer and sometimes a short synopsis of each pair of "fast shoes" the child owned. One boy (different from my professor in the conversation above) was wearing a pair of black slip on Vans with flames and golden dragons on them. These were obviously fast shoes, after my little tutorial on fast shoes I was sure I could spot them a mile away.

To test my knowledge I asked, "I bet those are your fastest shoes, aren't they? They're black and they even have dragons."

He looked at his shoes, then looked at me in a confused-sort-of-way and said:

"No. These are my skating shoes."

But I defended my ground:

"But they are black with golden dragons!"

The boy, trying to make me feel a little better, countered:

"They're kind of fast...because they have the flames."

I felt triumphant:

"See. Fast. Shoes." (pointing to his shoes as I said each word)

He gently followed with:

"Yeah, but Ms. Bailey, there aren't any pricklies."

I'm still pretty sure the color/graphic has a lot to do with making a shoe fast (ask any child and the color is the first thing they'll point out), but apparently it runs deeper than that. The stars must align and the gods approve and, if nothing else, THERE MUST BE 'PRICKLIES' (on the bottom of a red, brown, blue, black, or golden shoe that has straps).