On the Ninth Day of a Feminine Christmas

Slippers were on my shopping list this Christmas. Not for me but for someone else. I happily obliged because this Santa loves slippers which are sometimes referred to as house shoes now. I’m OK with both terms.

I was touched recently when I saw my little granddaughter’s rainbow slippers tucked just so under the edge of her bed. I asked her if Mommy placed them there but she told me she puts them there herself every night before she goes to bed and every morning after she puts her shoes on. This wise infant-child said the morning placement is so that she knows where her slippers are at when she comes home at night and the night ritual is so that she can find her slippers if she needs to get up in the dark.

In a post in this series, I mentioned the practice of draping one’s robe at the bottom of the bed at night and it occurred to me that slippers should be nearby as well. And isn’t it the lady of the house who often has to get up to answer a baby’s cries or tend to a sick child in the middle of the night? Having the comfort of warm slippers on a cold floor cannot be measured for these nocturnal tasks. I now know my grandchild understands this too.

Mothers and homemakers are sometimes the first in the household to rise whether to put the turkey in the oven on a holiday, prepare the baby’s morning bottle or to start breakfast for the family on Christmas day. Somehow having my slippers near my bed makes me feel safe and ready for any emergencies that should occur at night.

Slippers have been very popular these last few years and the styles are just a matter of preference. I must have warmth above all else and then I look for pretty. One pair of slippers I own is fairly utilitarian – I can run down to the end of my driveway in them to fetch the mail thanks to their weatherproof bottoms. Another pair is made of soft boiled wool in fuchsia with silver hearts stitched on each side for whimsy. I love them both. Ah, but it doesn’t stop there…

There are the booties lined in sheepskin for afternoons indoors during icy winter cold snaps. And then there are ballet flats in stretch “satin”  that put a spring in my step come April. In summer, I wear cute little scuffs of terry cloth with big bows. What’s available now is a far cry from what our lady in the above image had. We have so many more choices and slippers are so “in” right now that people are wearing them at the market and coffee shops. However, I still prefer shoes for the outside world.

It looks like Santa Claus brought our smiling model a lovely pair of slippers although they have a bit of a heel. Even leisure clothes were more formal then. Still, she seems delighted and so does Santa. But I would have asked him for the petite blue booties with the fur trim.

There is also something endearing about our loved one’s slippers. They are so personal and beloved and when they are emptied of the feet they serve, it nearly breaks your heart to see them so. And I guess that’s what I felt when I looked down at those two rainbow scuffs so neatly placed below my granddaughter’s bed. And of course, out of the mouth’s of babes…

If you wanted slippers this Christmas, I hope you find them under your tree. But if they don’t appear, be sure to select a warm pair for yourself and keep them beside your bed this winter.