Oh yes, you will succumb to all things Disney when the time comes!  My 16 month old begs to play dress up in her 3 yo sister's princess gear all the time.  Your day is coming, missy!  

Oh and yes, buy the kids some dang shoes!  Have you checked Childrens Place?  They have some good deals but they don't come in half sizes.  

Please post more cute pics in the next post!  I love the pics of your girls.  Too cute.

My grandmother used to use a piece of rope to keep my father tethered to her.  Back in 1950, there was a wee, spastic brown haired boy being led around by his older, calmer brother with twine.  It's a cheaper, low-tech version of those over-priced leashes that I thought you, a fellow cheapskate, would appreciate.  

Awesome Paul Simon reference.

My father used a belt that he looped around my waist and carried me like a piece of luggage at that age. Fortunately my memories only go back as far as around 3 years old, so I don't know if I felt any sense of humiliation or entertainment at this. And try amazon.com for shoes. I found their prices are not so bad. And their feet stop growing so fast from this point forward. You will get a few months, not just one out of them! Like that is comforting.

Maybe check out ebay?  Have you already checked the used kids stores in your area?  Also, here is another one that I found recently:

www.vincentshoestore.us/.../index.cfm

We found great shoes for Josie at Sears. Yes, they're light-up Dora shoes, but she LOVES them. (The lights, not the Dora.) They double as toys in a pinch, are good and sturdy, and were probably about $14.99.  

I know they are big box stores, but we have had a lot of luck with Payless (they sell champion shoes and they are pretty simple without characters/logos other than champion) and Target.

I may have said this in my last comment but I am too lazy to check.

I totally lost it when the shoes were spit up by dingos.  Thanks for the laugh.  I needed it today.

How about Keds? (the old fashioned rubber toed ones that come in navy or red).  Perfectly adorable for summer and only $25 (probably less if you're smart about it).  Might be a little stiff at first but if your girls are already proficient walkers, they could be a good deal.

I know the Stride Rites are kinda spendy, but they were the only things that would fit on my son's fat-as-hams feet (they come in wide!). I bought them at the outlet, a half-size too big, and he's still wearing them comfortably almost 6 months later. Really comfortable and durable, and not screamingly ugly. And it works out to about $4 or $5/month, so not really *that* expensive.

I found some Stride Rites at http://www.kidsurplus.com for like $15.

Also, I know people hate them and they're super fugly, but my 18 month old LOVES his Crocs (he can put them on himself!) and my Podiatrist told me they're the best shoes available for our feet (and he said "fake" ones are not as good for our feet?).......plus, my son is ALWAYS getting them wet and I'm assuming they'll just get more wet as we get into summer.

I also refused to drop $50 on a pair of shoes when I was shopping for shoes too :)

ahhhhh the arsenal mall. those are my old stomping grounds and where my husband and I met and got married. We have a photo on the fridge taken in one of those little photo booths at that mall. We live in Cali now.

On to shoes... even though I won the Robeez Tredz my son is currently wearing these adorable little sneakers from Payless since teh Tredz are still too big. They are flexible, super cute and they make the same ones in larger sizes. Not too gender specific if you're interested:

www.payless.com/.../ProductDetail.aspx

LOL! herding cats! You are too funny.

You're so funny!  

At my request, my mom just picked up a leash for my son.  I can't let him loose anywhere and expect to do anything else but follow him around.  I took him to Stride Rite and he did the same thing.  Wandered off on his own reign of terror.  I, too, pacify him with cookies.

Victoria's Secret, which I used to like when I was 25-30ish, now makes me hurl in my mouth a little bit.  Truly, this marketing of greeness has gone too far.

Jane, don't sweat it so much. Get them some cute flexible soled sandals and call it good. Once it gets warm, barefoot will be best most of the time anyway. It's also the cutest. They'll only need shoes out in the world.

Well, the Converse low-tops are quite the hit, and they're seriously cute.   We've gotten a few complements on them already.  I was thinking of going back for two other pairs in other colors, but then the whole "tying of the shoes" thing got old.  Think we need some with velcro.

Here's another shout out for crocs. I'm not a fan of them for myself but my 18 month old daughter loves the ones her grandma bought her. She always picks out her crocs when I tell her to go get her shoes (in my house it's "patos", short for zapatos). They stay on, they're waterproof, and affordable, too.

For durability, I recommend shoes by See Kai Run-- pricey but man, they have really worn well. They were the first shoes my daughter graduated to after wearing nothing but Robeez. And they are wicked cute.

It's nice to read about a fellow cheapskate.  I prefer to think of myself as frugal...my mother calls me stingy!  We too have gotten almost everything second hand from friends and it hurts me to the core to have to go buy something that my son will wear for one month before growing out of it!  I'm looking forward to hearing how you solve the shoe dilemma.

Applause for examining the back story of buying things. Check freecycle.com for your city. Or Craigslist.com. Love reading about your babes. Just a grandma wannabe, Anne

Very funny.  The hardest part for me now that they're older is letting them wear what they want.  They rebel at being my accessories.  The good news for me is that we're out of LA where my daughter was pulled by the fashions of her friends.  In the second grade she was convinced she needed a pair of pink Uggs or she would die.

Go to Inman Square in Cambridge.  Bird by Bird has a 50% off sale on See Kai Run shoes (apparently better than Stride Rite according to my hip friend from JP).  

Or, go to Children's Orchard in Brookline, although as a consignment place that can be hit or miss.

Finally, surely you must be on the moms of twins list for Boston---and I think there big twice yearly sale is this week or next.  

don't let there be a triquel! go get some shoes! i hear you on the 1. disney crap and 2. cost. sometimes when i am on a hunt for something because i am in search of the best deal, i have to stop myself. quick cost-benefit-analysis. in the end it's not worth the cost of gas, time, and sanity. better to just drop the dough.

ok am procrastinating at work and just read post before this one and saw you are went to MOT sale . . . hope you found something . . .

It took me 3 weeks to buy the first pair of shoes for my 15 month old.  Everything cute was too expensive and everything cheap was just too pink, white and sparkly.  I sucked it up in the end as she needed shoes to play outside and enjoy spring and bought See Kai Runs.

Don't you feel guilty for wasting the salesperson's time and not buying anything? Maybe it's my personality, but I would.

Then again, I don't have twins so I don't have to double the cost of everything I purchase.

I've found good deals on shoes at Amazon, fyi. Sizing and style can be a little random, but when it comes together it's karma.

Yay Arsenal Mall!! I spent a good many days of my toddlerhood on a leash in that same mall. There is a Childrens Place in the corner over by Victoria's Secret and the Foot Locker kids upstairs, if you fail online.

okay, so i tried to leave a seekairun comment to the last post and it was somehow erased and i was unsurprisingly too lazy to type it.

but see kai run is a great company, based here in seattle, and make amazing kid shoes. i mean, fantastic. they are So much cuter and softer soled than stride rites. (and theyre cute enough to wear with dresses or everyday... which is how i justify them)

theyre a little ridiculously priced, but their sale page has shoes for around $25 and they have free shipping right now.

www.seekairun.com/.../commerce.cgi

maybe its too extravagant for barely walkers who will outgrow them in a few months.. but i definitely recommend them for when theyre hauling ass everywhere.

Try looking for used shoes on eBay. Sure, they're a little beat up, but new shoes will get beat up after one trip to the park, and you can get them really, really, cheap.

Trey, you know they've done studies that show that kids who are dressed in trendier/more expensive clothes tend to do better in school, don't you? It seems to be a combination of: 1. Kids who belong to parents who can afford that shizz (pun intended) tend to be attended to all round 2. Teachers give those kids more one on one time because they feel they're worth spending time on.

Pink Uggs could make all the difference!

You're only the second person I've met who knows the name of that foot-measuring device! The first is a sports/graphic design columnist who has it tattooed on his arm.

I actually love that Stride Rite outlet place in Watertown. I've been there a couple of times and I usually manage to score a relatively good deal. My Peanut, at 3 and a half, has been wearing the same size shoes for nearly a year now, so I've pretty much made peace with spending around $25 per pair. (Of course I only have one kid to buy for...)

And I have the same issue with the Disney princesses. I recently, reluctantly, allowed a Jasmine doll into the house, but only because that movie is less offensive than the other Disney princess movies. But I draw the line at having my kid advertise Disney on her body, for crying out loud!  

I  rather like shopping for shoes for my 2 year old twins. I justify spending a bit more if I make their clothes/shop at Target. I have to say that I totally get warm fuzzies when they put on their new polka dot shoes (I think they are Puddlejumpers)...but I don't  get my warm fuzzies if the one a year "special" shoes are more than $30 a pair.That's where I draw my line. I am a keen watcher of online sales.

I am waiting for Skechers to have a sale on their babybugs- like Crocs but cheaper- I had them in size 4 last summer for my twin girls and they were great....cheaper on the skechers site than on Zappos. We'll make the trek to striderite to get a measurement and possibly get something sturdy with a toe box when they have their 50% sale.

My girls never took to Robeez.Pulled them off. When we first put shoes on them you might have thought we had removed their toenails....the drama! But it didn't take long for them to figure out shoes=outside....and outside=good.

No Princesses here until they tell me which Princess is which...hmmm might add a spelling requirement too.

I had my daughter's foot measured at Stride-Rite, then orderded the shoes on eBay for $20. Brand new in the box.