Christmas Shoes

Probably one of the saddest, if not the saddest, Christmas songs in history, is Christmas shoes. It's also probably the corniest Christmas song.

Basically a boy is shopping alone...on Christmas Eve. And somehow he knows his Mom's show size. I have known my mom all 41 years of my life and I don't have a clue what size shoe she wears. Perhaps I'm just not as observant as this boy.

Crazy thing is he knows his mom's shoe size but he doesn't have a clue when it comes to money. He pays with pennies and is surprised when he doesn't have enough. If he is shopping at Payless I guess I get it...sort of, but I doubt that's where he went. I picture him in the mall at a shoe store with high prices.

If that's not enough he turns to the guy behind him in line. I am sure this guy is livid having to wait in line on Christmas Eve for a kid who us paying for shoes with pennies. You know this guy is in a hurry and is gonna get an ear full from his wife when he gets home because the kids are screaming that their daddy is t home on Christmas Eve because he waited till the last minute to shop for their mommy.

He has pressure. The tension is building with every penny that us counted. Then the kid had the gall to ask for money! He doesn't straight out ask him. He just looks up at him with puppy dog eyes and asks, "What am I going to do now?" Now he has a major dilemma. He likely had attended Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and is only using cash and he had exactly the amount of cash for a pair of shoes for his wife.

If he gives the kid money he can't buy his wife her dream shoes he has been diligently saving for. And he has how gone to the store with nothing to show for it but warm fuzzies. Can you picture the scene? Dad leaves on Christmas eve to get a gift for mom last minute and comes home with nothing. Kids yelling and crying. Awful moment.

Then, to make matters worse, this little boy shares his awful sob story. He tells the man that he wants to buy the shoes for his Mom. But he calls her Mamma. For some reason Mamma is much more heart gripping then Mom is. At least in this song. He tells her that she is likely going to die that night.

Side note; you are telling me that his dad has let his little boy leave the home on Christmas eve to go shopping on a crazy night when his mother is likely going to die within a few hours.? Incomprehensible!

Now I understand that his mother has been sick for quite a while and must be at such a deep dark spot that she has been coughing and gurgling like crazy. She must be screaming and moaning and saying things that don't make any sense. It is probably scaring the living daylights out of this little boy and so the dad sent him out because he has been crying all day over his Mom. I guess in some way I get it.

So the kid has played a guilt trip on the guy, he spends his money and no longer has money for his wife's gift, and now the kid runs out of the store. If you listen closely, I am pretty sure you can actually hear the boy laughing and, if I am not mistaken, he yells, "Sucka!"

Perhaps he is a sucker. Perhaps he has ruined Christmas for his family. But at least he was reminded what Christmas is all about.What is Christmas all about for you I wonder?

Here is a video done for a school project for the song.

PS. If you rewatch the video at the top and scrub to 00:37 notice what Steve is doing in the background. (We made this video a couple of years ago to send to our friend Brian who HATES the song! Haha.)