It is with a grain of shame I admit spending hours of thought and initiative trying to buy my kids the exact right pair of shoes.  You know, the kind that will match the Gymboree pink but still coordinate well with the Baby Gap pink and possibly even accentuate Old Navy pink.  And don't get me started on buying shoes for my son.  He has 24,000 pair of khakis, and it is a proven fact that no two pair of khakis ever made in various developing countries have ever duplicated a shade.  Ever.  This makes buying boy shoes big fun, particularly when their mother insists on dressing him in the khaki shorts, and the preschool insists on my outfitting him in closed toed shoes.  See the dilemma?  If the dilemma is still unclear to you, please sign-off your computer immediately, take two Advil and get some rest, people.  I really need your focused attention here.
 
It has been brought to my attention that www.zappos.com is a sign from the great shoe lords that my efforts have not been in vain.  That, in fact, spending several hours weekly scouring websites and lurking in the caves of nearby malls' darkest tunnels to find a solution has not been for naught.  We all understand that finding the right style of shoe is the cheesecake, but finding that perfect Toddler Size 9 Wide, if you will, is the strawberry glaze cascading over the ripples of that heavenly graham cracker crust.  I think we can all agree this is not a feat for the feint of heart.
 
www.zappos.com has been my savior, so I want to share it with all of you who have possibly not yet been introduced to podiatrical nirvana. They have no sales tax, free overnight shipping, and free returns.
 
Ladies, gentlemen, please shop carefully.  And enjoy the ride.