# Barefoot Kids and idiots' comments



## Shann (Dec 19, 2003)

My 2 boys (ages 5 and 7) LOVE to go barefoot almost all year ! In the house, they have their shoes off all year round; in the summer, they never put shoes on. I have never had a problem with this, as this is the way I was raised too. In fact, in the summer, once school is finished for the summer, the shoes come off and are put away for the whole summer and dont go back on their feet until the next fall (my choice, their delight !). We avoid places all summer where shoes are "required" (you'd be surprised how many "barefoot friendly" places there are out there if you just look). We go to parks, on hikes, playgrounds, etc barefoot and even to some smaller shopping establishments.
Invariably, we get quiet comments like "oh look, that family cant afford shoes for the kids !" NO ! we CHOOSE a barefoot lifestyle for the kids ! Such people just burn me ! We can easily afford shoes...we just choose not to. Does anyone else experience "barefoot prejudice" besides us ?

____________________________________
Shann...mom to Tristan (age 5) and Jevan (age 7)...never married mom with wonderful live-in (and sleep with) BF !


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## oceanbaby (Nov 19, 2001)

We are always barefoot in the house. I do require shoes outside for safety reasons though. Ds loves being barefoot - if shoes aren't on he won't wear socks, regardless of the temperature.

I guess people jump to that conclusion simply because they don't see it that often. I keep a teeny little cheapo stroller in the back of my car because we don't use it that often, and when we do, I don't like lifting our big heavy one in and out. We keep that one at home for long walks. But in the ritzy area I live I have gotten looks of pity like they feel sorry for me that I can't afford a big fancy stroller. Whatever.


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## luckylady (Jul 9, 2003)

That's absurd! I thought you were going to talk about kids going barefoot in the cold - I was at the park the other day with DD and it was about 50 and some kids cam ein and peeled off their shoes. LOL.


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## luckylady (Jul 9, 2003)

ugh - sorry - double post.


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## the sunshine (Jul 31, 2003)

I've always loved being barefoot. One summer a neighbor child looked at me weird, and said " I never knew grownups went barefoot!"

What a world we live in, eh?


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## Ravin (Mar 19, 2002)

I go barefoot all over the place, weather permitting, and plan to let dd as well. Unfortunately there is one security guard at the mall near my home who enforces the shoes required policy. This was very annoying while I was pregnant, because my sandals were too tight and I was much more comfortable barefooted,

Where I live the time of year shoes become a necessity is summer, because it's just too hot to walk w/o them on any kind of pavement during most of the day, no matter how tough one's feet are.


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## ebethmom (Jan 29, 2002)

I like going barefoot, too. My husband has "bad feet" (flat arches, weak ankles that roll in), so going barefoot is uncomfortable for him. So he tends to insist that ds wear shoes. I wind up taking ds's shoes off several times during the day. We're inside! Why bother with shoes!


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## Quickening (May 20, 2003)

is going without shoes illegal in the us (california)

dh insists it is...

i go barefooted as often as possible which isnt as much here as i used to in australia. i don't believe in putting shoes on just to walk in the yard (thats what mil does and she makes dh and his brother put shoes on too lol)


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## padomi (Dec 28, 2002)

.


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## kama'aina mama (Nov 19, 2001)

Come to Hawaii. You'll fit right in. Most people have rubber flip flops they wear year round, but everyone knows it's a huge challenge to keep kids anywhere near their shoes. At my daughters preschool we are supposed to make sure they have their shoes (slippahs) on outdoors. I swear it's half my day asking kids where their slippahs are and reminding them to go put them on! (It's a licensing requirement... drives us all nuts!) I have been told that particularly on the smaller, more rural islands it is not uncommon for a child to wear slippahs for the first time ever when they go to kindergarten. It is a challenge for K teachers to teach them not to put the shoes on their hands and clap them all day long!


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## CelticMama (Dec 23, 2003)

My 15 month old hates to wear shoes. I hate them too so she comes by it honestly! We get people saying "where are your shoes" all the time and I just smile and move on.

Kama'aina mama - We lived on Oahu for three years and I wore my "uglies" everywhere! You gotta love a college like UH where you can kick your shoes off in class and really relax!


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## cottonwood (Nov 20, 2001)

Ohmigosh! Going without shoes is not illegal! LOL! It is, however, prohibited by business owners *while you are in their place of business*, for liability reasons. You know, customer steps on something, customer cuts foot, customer sues. I'm sure for some too it's just considered inappropriate. You know, "no shirt, no shoes, no service". Like those fancy restaurants where men have to wear a jacket and tie.

I NEVER go barefoot. I hate the feel of grit on my feet. My children, however, are *always* barefoot when we are at home, and anywhere else they can get away with it, regardless of weather. If they have to wear shoes, it's usually sandals without socks. Again, regardless of weather. (We live in the Pacific Northwest.) I've never had anyone make comments, though. Well, except my mom. She is constantly worried that their feet are cold. I tell her, look, as long as there is no danger of frostbite it is THEIR choice.


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## jeca (Sep 21, 2002)

My motehr insists that going barefoot makes kids feet flat. My little ones also hate shoes and it's such an issue. tehy do wehn we are out in puclic except for the baby. But she thinks taht they "need" hard bottem shoes or they will have flat feet. anyone know anything about this.


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## Ravin (Mar 19, 2002)

Actually, the opposite is true. The human foot is designed to be walked on barefoot. Going barefoot will help develop strong arches and healthy foot skeletal and muscular development. Being cooped up in rigid shoes where they can't flex naturally and w/ arch supports for naturally flat feet of small children is what results in older children/adults w/ flat feet!

Whether you believe we evolved that way or were created, the human foot doesn't actually _need_ shoes, except in harsh environments.

See http://www.unshod.org/pfbc/


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## Susana (Feb 26, 2002)

I'm a barefoot gal too, and I have the kinda ugly feet to prove it! There is nothing better than walking through grass early in the morning barefoot. Well, maybe walking through sand on the beach barefoot. Or across cold wooden floors barefoot.
Hell, I walk out to the mailbox in the winter sometimes barefoot (Ohio here). My old neighbor used to yell at me, "where are your shoes! What are you, crazy??" LOL. It takes me 2 seconds to get to my mailbox, lady, chill out.

My dd also likes to be barefoot. Dh and ds are shoe, sock, slipper kind of guys. No fun at all









As for the commentary on your barefootedness, isn't it lovely when people care enough to give you their opinions like that? What would we do without these people who have nothing better to do with their time than to tell you stupid crap like sorry you can't afford shoes. Sheesh.


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## Shann (Dec 19, 2003)

A couple of you mentioned socks. I also don't allow my kids to wear socks. I have this strong hatred for socks, esp. with sneakers. So they never wear socks during the rare times they have sneakers on. I just detest that ! Sometimes meddling relatives will buy socks for the boys, which I humbly accept. But they always end up in the trash, because my boys dont wear them (and dont want to wear them). We are a proud sockless and shoeless family ! lol

______________________________________

Shann...mom to Tristan (age 5) and Jevan (age 7)...never married mom with wonderful live-in (and sleep with) BF !


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## Dakota's Mom (Apr 8, 2003)

I personally do not own a pair of shoes. I wear sandals year round. In the winter I wear socks with them because my feet get cold. I was constantly geting flack about not putting shoes on ds. When it was cold he wore socks to keep his feet warm. In the summer he was barefoot all the time. He started walking in July. People really started in about shoes then. In September when it started getting cold we bought him a pair of sneakers. I was at a holiday party at work a few weeks ago and my boss said, "Oh you finally got him shoes." Well, yeah, it's 30 degrees out and 4 inches of snow, he needs shoes. But as soon as it is warm again the shoes will go away. I would never wear them if I could get by with it.

Now if those same people would stop yelling at me to cut his hair. Last night I told his grandmother he could get a haircut when she teaches him to say, "Mommy I'd like a haircut please."

Kathi


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## padomi (Dec 28, 2002)

.


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## indie (Jun 16, 2003)

When I was in college I had a friend who would go everywhere he could without shoes. One day he was walking through a building and one of the profs yelled at him a sent him to the dean's office! One of this prof's coworkers in the same building walks around without shoes all of the time. The dean thought it was stupid waste of his time and didn't do anything about it, but my friend was pretty mad at that prof.


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## Dodo (Apr 10, 2002)

Quote:

is going without shoes illegal in the us (california)
My one and only time in California (LA), I saw a cop stop a driver who -- to my horror -- turned out to be barefoot. My friend (from Saskatoon) and I (from Ottawa) wondered if that was legal. We thought we were being so risqué for driving in flipflops.

I'm so not a barefoot person. At the park or store dd wears shoes. At home, in a friend's yard, or at the beach -- it's up to her.


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## TiredX2 (Jan 7, 2002)

We live in WA so during this winter I have switched to a thick soled sandal and socks to keep warmer (the socks dry quick enough if I happen to get wet).

Both kids take their shoes off immediately wherever they go (DD seems to keep them on in her classes where they're not required to take them off though). DS immediately strips off shoes and socks to the point I've just given up. I carry him from car to building if he wants me to (cold or wet) adn he runs around barefoot everwhere else. I get sick of people stopping me to mention he has "lost" his shoes, lol, gotta be blind to miss that. DD, thankfully, is usually willing to put shoes on to walk on cold/wet so I don't end up carrying both of them. I *love* being shoeless it just feels so much better. Glad to hear I have so much company and I'm not the *only* one depriving my children!


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## DebraBaker (Jan 9, 2002)

I am one of those barefoot types. My children are oftentimes barefoot. We live in PA and have winters and we do wear shoes when it's cold outside but go barefoot (or in socks) indoors.

I hate shoes. I generally wear a pair of birkenstocks when its warm and a pair of birkenstock clogs in cold weather. When I drive I drive barefoot but it's illegal (can't see the logic) so I keep the birkies there to slip on in the event I'm pulled over by the police.

My MIL is weird about shoes. When my oldest were little I endred all her nonsense about how babies "need" shoes (I thank Raven for providing the info so I didn't do the work myself) I have had perfect strangers criticize me for taking my baby out in autumnal weather in a pair of thick (textured bottomed) socks instead of "proper shoes".

DH wears his shoes like a good boy (thanks to the MIL) but the rest of us are the types who wear sandals all summer.

db


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## Shann (Dec 19, 2003)

It is ABSOLUTELY NOT illegal to drive barefoot in ANY of the states !! I have several friends who are on police forces and state highway patrol squads, and I have also done research, and everything and EVERYONE is in agreement... It is TOTALLY an urban legend that it is illegal to drive barefoot !

____________________________________________

Shann...mom to Tristan (5) and Jevan (7)...partner to wonderful live-in (and sleep with !) BF ! YAY !


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## Dakota's Mom (Apr 8, 2003)

((((I have had perfect strangers criticize me for taking my baby out in autumnal weather in a pair of thick (textured bottomed) socks instead of "proper shoes".))))

I was in a store last summer. I stood DS down on the floor so I could pay for my purchase. A total stranger yelled at me for letting him stand on the dirty floor. I just glared at her and said, "My kid, my rules."

Kathi


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

You know, I find it strange that so many of you have been yelled at for having pre-walking babies without shoes on. I put a pair of hard-soled shoes on my ds once before he could walk (to go to a funeral; I didn't think it would be appropriate to play with cute baby toes) and was told by no less than four people that babies shouldn't wear shoes before they can walk. :LOL I was like "I know, he doesn't usually, I just didn't think bare feet would be appropriate and I knew he'd want to play in the grass and I didn't want dirty socks." He has a very wide foot, so he couldn't wear crib shoes anymore. They understood, but as soon as the actual service was over I removed his shoes and socks and everyone smiled and nodded.

My mother was raised in Brooklyn and I don't think she was ever outdoors barefoot in her life for any reason until a fire alarm went off when I was 8 or 9 years old. (She was in her 30's) :LOL Her mother would have had a canary! Thus, I was raised by a paranoid person. In college, I went through a barefoot phase. I confess that I rather enjoy bare feet, and would do it except that I have a really ugly toenail fungus now.







If I had cute toenails, I'd spend a fair amount of time barefoot in the summer. Ds will do as he pleases when he gets older; for now it's cold and he's a walking man, very independant, so he wears shoes (Stride Rite Outlet, size 4EE :LOL). And while I have ugly toenails (the rest of my life?!?!





















) I too will wear shoes.

Dh is a Type I diabetic, and does have a bit of neuropathy so he rarely goes barefoot outside, though he usually does inside. I think that if he wasn't concerned about his foot health he would totally be the barefoot sort. :LOL


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## TiredX2 (Jan 7, 2002)

Oh no, the no shoes has bit me on the butt.

We went up to the mountain today to snow tube and DS had a huge FIT when we put boots on him. He cried for at least 15 minutes (we also had the audacity in the 26 degree weather to make him wear snow pants & a jacket) and kept trying to pull his clothing off!!! Finally he just decided to sit down and stick his hands in the snow over and over and then suck the snow off. Then, oddly enough, he was tired of that and wanted to get in the car and nurse. OKay, that is some of the coldest action my breasts have EVER seen, lol.

Maybe *they* do have a point about the regular usage of shoes!

Kay


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## mamaduck (Mar 6, 2002)

Last summer we invited family over for a picnic in the backyard. My kids were running all over the yard barefoot, and my childless BIL kept yelling at them to go get their shoes on. My DH finally intervened and told him to lay off... that they were fine. BIL was walking around muttering about how "disgusting" he thought it was for them to be walking outdoors without shoes, "in the grass and dirt...." I was inside through all of this, fixing a salad, completely oblivious... So then I walked outside to put the salad on the table... and I was barefoot! He pointed at my feet and practically shreiked, "SO! Thats where they learned it!!! I don't believe you!! How can you do that?? Serving food!!! With company here, no less! OUTSIDE!" I was initially mortified, then furious, then embrassed again... I asked my MIL if it was okay, and she assured me that it was definately his problem and not mine!! After the fact, I find it hilarious!


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## Ravin (Mar 19, 2002)

As for the toenail fungus, have you considered that fungus grows best where it's dark, moist, and warm--in shoes?


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## momto l&a (Jul 31, 2002)

The thought of going barefoot in a public place is IMO disgusting. In our area people feel the need to spit before entering a store.
I have no problem with going bare foot in the country or wherever it isnt public.

My Mom has Banties in her yard so it kinda nice to wear shoes if going over to her place.

I know I spent alot of my childhood days bare foot as long as we where home. My favorite thing to do was to run out to the outhouse bare foot in the snow I have some mighty high arches, so high its hard to find shoes that are comfy.


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## eilonwy (Apr 3, 2003)

Quote:

_Originally posted by Ravin_
*As for the toenail fungus, have you considered that fungus grows best where it's dark, moist, and warm--in shoes?*
Which is why I go barefoot at home, but it's hideously ugly. No one needs to look at that.







I wish there was something I could do to actually kill it, but nothing I can afford seems to work.


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## Ravin (Mar 19, 2002)

Well, I honestly only know one person who was cured of toenail fungus. But you wouldn't want to use her cure. The chemotherapy she underwent for breast cancer killed it.


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