Kaepas

I wonder how many people remember Kaepa shoes. Both Diane and Sally had them a few times.

The shoes were white athletic shoes with the usual 80's adornments. The special thing about

Kaepa shoes was the removable triangular-shaped pop-ins on the outer side of each shoe. You

got the original color and maybe one extra when you bought the shoes. But, of course, two

wasn't enough. You could buy extra packs of pop-out color triangles. And just like most other

things that are marketed for children, there was only one favored color in each pack. So if you

kid wanted silver, pink, and yellow, you'd probably have to buy three different packs.

For awhile, the girls kept their color pop-outs in a baggie or a jewelry case or some other

special, safe place. However within a short amount of time, the colorful do-dads were misplaced or even thrown out by mistake. By this time, the fad was on the wane, so the pop- outs were no longer on the shelves to purchase. So, there was the poor child's dilemma -- to constantly wear a non-matching pop out that had been on the shoes forever, or to get rid of the shoes that still fit and did not have a lot of wear and tear on them.

I remembered we reached a compromise regarding the out-of-favor shoes. They promised to

wear the shoes in the summer if they could get new ones for school. That sounded great to me.

The only problem was, when summer finally came around their dainty little feet truly had out-grown the Kaepas.