Is "Shoe Fanatic" written in genetic code?

Today we set out on a trip to Leavenworth. The plan was that I would pack everyone's stuff before we picked them up from school early to make sure we made it over the pass in the daylight. When I informed my nearly 9 year old daughter that I would be packing her stuff the response was less than positive. Here's our conversation:

Lilly: "How am I going to have clothes to wear if we leave directly from school?"
Me: "I'm going to pack your stuff."
Lilly: "Uh. How will you know what I want to bring?"
Me: "I don't care what you want to bring. I am going to bring what I feel is appropriate for the weather."
Lilly: "Well, just make sure you have my brown UGG boots, my black boots, and my snow boots. I'll have my sneakers on at school so that should be ok....unless we're going somewhere nice to eat. Then I'll need my black Mary Jane's too."
Me: "I will pack what I think is appropriate."
Lilly: funny look.

This is not unusual for her. A year or two ago we woke up one Saturday morning and were going to do our grocery shopping. "Mom! None of my shoes fit," she screamed from her bedroom. I ran upstairs to find her with all 13 pairs of shoes she owned at the time spread across her floor. "None of them fit. My feet grew overnight," she said. I tested them all out. She was right. What the hell!?! Here is a transcript of that conversation:

Mom: (frustrated) "Well, when we're out today I guess we'll pick you up some shoes. Wear your flip-flops to the store."
Lilly: (glee across her face) "OK. Here's what I need: one pair of black dress shoes, one pair of brown dress shoes, one pair of sneakers, a pair of black boots, a pair of brown boots, a pair of cute tennis shoes, and a pair of casual "jeans" shoes. That should do for now until we can replace them all."
Mom: "Uh, we'll see."

So, is there a "shoe" gene? Some genetic strain that is connected to the female species? There must be. Since Lilly was little, I mean really little, she has had an attraction to shoes. When she was 1 1/2 years old we walked into a Target and her Daddy asked her if she wanted to go look at the toys. Her response? Shoes Daddy, lets look at the shoes!

These are the ones she was in love with at the time...

You can find them still at http://www.target.com/.

Now, as her 9th birthday approaches she wants to redo her room. The theme? High heels. She thinks they're pretty. She wants dozens of pairs of them on shelves in her room. The shoe she thinks is pretty now?

Wowee! Where did my sweet little girl go? Well, at least she has good taste. Maybe she can display a pair of 8 1/2's on her wall?

By the way, you can find these shoes at http://www.parishiltonsite.net/parishiltonshoeline.php.

So maybe she has a shoe addiction. Hey, a lot of girls do. As long as she is saving her allowance or babysitting to earn her own money, she can go ahead and buy whatever shoes she likes.

I can't wait until we wear the same size!

Nik