Are these sneakers for girls only? An investigation

Dear Skechers,

Today I took my 5-year-old son shopping for new sneakers for kindergarten. Against a wall of monochromatic and frankly drab options, these captivated him right away.

They're rainbow and sparkly and pretty fantastic. Heck, I'd wear them in my size. I admired his taste. As he was busily shoving the too-large display sneaker on his foot, I approached the sales guy to request his size.

"I'm actually not sure what size he is," I said.

The guy did a double take. "He?"

"Yeah, he's over there," I said, motioning to my son.

The sales guy lowered his voice, adopting the tone of a doctor delivering fatal news to a patient. "Uh, you know these are girl shoes, right?"

I fixed him with my most withering glare and said, "Uh, it doesn't actually matter."

So he obligingly brought us the box.

Well played, Skechers! In case there was any doubt about for which sex your awesome rainbow sparkly sneakers are intended, you've cleared up the confusion right there on the box!

My son tried on the sneakers and instantly approved them. And then, in a momentary flash of doubt, I asked him what he would say to anyone who said to him, "Hey, why are you wearing pink sneakers?"

"Because they're cool," called the sales guy from over by the register, recovering with aplomb from his earlier discomfort. My son's eyes brightened.

"Because they're cool," he repeated firmly.

So we bought the rainbow sparkly sneakers. Along with a plainer blue pair. A few hours later, I asked him which pair of his new sneakers he wanted to wear to the ice cream shop.

"The sparkly ones," he said.

He chose cotton candy ice cream — which happened to match his sneakers. As he ate, I caught him admiring the way they glinted in the sunlight.

"Sparkle power!" he said.

There are, in any given day, at least a dozen mistakes I make as a parent and a dozen decisions I regret. But when my son chose rainbow sparkly sneakers and I didn't blink before hitting the register — that's a moment I'm proud of.

But Skechers, it shouldn't take an act of parental courage for a boy to get his hands on the rainbow sparkly sneakers his heart desires. After all, rainbows and sparkles are for everyone. And parenting is hard enough without sneaker companies dictating to me which of their sneakers my child should or should not wear because he has a penis and not a vagina.

I propose that instead of Skechers Girl, you call these sneakers Skechers Cool. Because they really are. And so is my kid.

Signed,
This cool kid's mom