Tiny Shoes

Generally, people don’t start preparing for the things required for the awaited child…But I am a bit different and don’t believe in these weird norms…been a rebel, and a pic of Tiny Shoes was in my mind.

My thought says, “Believe in positive & good things, and you will be blessed with the best ones.”

I was married at an early age… still in my late teens, and was not so much aware of family planning and all, and after one and a half years of marriage…I was on my way. The beginning months were difficult, but I readily went through the blues without getting irritated. My childhood was spent in a three-generation family, so these things weren’t new to me.

 

After six months, I started the preparations to welcome the child. The due date was in early winter, so I started knitting Tiny Shoes.

 

Before marriage, I was new to these activities. Still, after marriage, the urge to knit my hubby’s sweaters inspired me to learn the tricks of knitting, and within two years of marriage, I was proficient and would tutor others… such was the level of excellence in my knitting.

 

My Mom’s lecture was about how one should not prepare things before childbirth, but I turned a deaf ear and was engrossed in the preparations. Whatever I prepared for the child was for a girl, because I badly desired to be blessed with a girl.

 

 

 

There was a reason for wanting a Girl-child.
We are four sisters and one brother, and in my childhood, I saw the eyes of relatives and neighbors go cold with scorn when they learned we were four sisters. They did not comment much because my parents did not pay much heed to it, but the way they rolled their eyes is still in my memory, and I hated their stares.

 

I wanted a girl child to show the world how we can welcome a girl child with pride and happiness; the basic reason for wanting a girl child was this.

 

I knitted sweaters, tiny shoes, and tiny caps & gloves in pinks and yellows, my favorite baby colors, and laid them neatly in my wardrobe, waiting for the baby to arrive.

 

It was a pleasure to look at my creations; it gave immense satisfaction, and an unknown happiness enveloped my soul.

 

Despite pinkies and frocks prepared for the child, I gave birth to a baby boy with a C-section.

People in the family, as well as at the hospital, rejoiced and partied, but I felt a pinch at not being blessed with a baby girl.

 

I kept my feelings submerged in myself and did not share them with anyone.

I made my son wear those tiny frocks and tiny shoes till he was two years old.

Every year, I knit tiny shoes and socks for babies, regardless of sex, and present them to people blessed with tiny souls.

The tiny shoes appeal to me a lot, and in my wardrobe, where I keep my wool and needles, one would find tiny shoes and a cap lying.

My kids have outgrown my lap, but for others still, I knit the tiny stuff; it’s my interest to indulge in knitting colorful tiny shoes of different designs and looks, and their look appeals to me the most.