Something in My Boot

My feet are in constant danger -- and I blame Pixar.

Yes, that Pixar, the one that makes adorable movies for children using computer animation and the voices fo A list celebrities. You may recall that several of their movies, in fact, their sole franchise, feature a cowboy named Woody. Woody is not only a cowboy, but a toy as well, one that spouts various phrases when someone pulls his string. One of those phrases is "there's a

snake in my boot."

I wear boots almost every day. I love my boots. Meg loves Woody. Meg loves saying "there's a snake in my boot."

I think you can see where this is headed. Thank God we don't have any snakes in the house.

Every morning now I have to shake out my boots to see what treasures may be inside waiting to hobble me. Jewelry is one of Meg's favorites. Refrigerator magnets are too. The other day I put my foot in a boot without checking it first and pulled it out to find a plastic ballerina impaling my instep. I swear it was laughing at me.

Today's boot haul. The hat belongs to you know who...

Of course, every time I find one of these treasures Meg is right there to make sure I say the right thing, with the right inflection. With every thing I pull out and catalog her laughter gets a little louder. Then I ask her if she knows who put it in my boot and she says "no," even harder. I grab her and tickle her, asking over and over "did you put something in my boot" until she collapses into my arms for a cuddle. Then I put my boots on, and go off to work, thankful for the great kid I have.

Maybe I shouldn't blame Pixar. Maybe I should thank them. After all, what's a little toe pain in exchange for moments like that?

Still, I'm glad we don't have any snakes.