Toes and Things

I painted my toenails this past weekend, for the first time since Audrey was born.  That's how I know that warm weather has arrived.  (You know, that and being able to check the weather...)

Sometimes I get curious about who stumbles upon this blog and how, and I look at my analytics.   Oddly enough, one of the most used search terms to find my blog is "webbed toes."  Even though I'm sure I only mentioned it about once, 3 years ago.  Yes, I have webbed toes!  No, it's not a big deal.  When I was a kid it felt like a big deal.  I thought I was some kind of weirdo and was totally ashamed of them.  They caused me so much anxiety that my mom took me to a podiatrist to see about having them separated, but we were told that it could cause nerve damage so we decided to leave it alone.  And when I was a senior in high school, I realized that I could show them off, and most people thought they were pretty neat.  (Well, one kid acted like they were disgusting, but I just taunted him with them.  That's what you have to do with your mutations!)  As an adult, I love my toes.  Most people don't even notice what I'm talking about until I point them out: the second and third toes are slightly webbed.  No big deal.  NO, I AM NOT A GOOD SWIMMER.  (That's the #1 question that people ask, seriously.)

I thought there was pretty much no chance of me passing on the toes -- the only other person I'm aware of in my family who has them is my mom's second cousin.  But Audrey did end up getting a bit of webbing!  Just on her right foot, and it's barely noticeable.  I was so happy to hear that when she was born.  She's definitely my little duckling.  And when she gets older, if it bothers her, I'm glad that she'll have me to look up to, as a full-fledged toe weirdo. 

This type of webbed toe situation is SO SO common.  As a child with webbed toes, I was very aware of what everyone else's toes looked like, and I came to realize that these aren't so odd.  A guy in my 9th grade history class had the same toes.  I never talked to him about it, but I thought it was brave of him to wear sandals.  I met a baby at a church once who had the same toes.  Do a google search...  Check out this awesome tattoo idea.

So, any other fellow webbies out there?  (Robert calls me Webby because of my toes!)  Who are you mysterious people who are searching for webbed toes?  Do you think they're cute?  Do you think they're weird?  I think they're awfully neat, and nothing to be ashamed of.