Those of you with kids

Just wondered if your kids are barefooters too?

My little girl (who is only 4) absolutely loves it. To her, it's perfectly "normal" as she see me barefoot all the time.

I took her shopping to Tesco a few days ago and she insisted on being barefoot (just like daddy). We had a fab time, she absolutely loved it - dancing around the iles, she got lots of smiles from people, and we both got very black feet which she was very proud of!!!

Its really interesting how a child's perception of something can be so different if they're not subjected to the "sheep factor" and I find it so cool that she loves it as much as I do.

 

A long time ago I met a woman and her daughter who was also about 4 or 5. They were both barefoot in a Friendly's ice cream restaurant/store. I was behind them in line waiting to order. I saw they both had filthy soles just like mine. I commented how we all like the same shoes. The mom told me her daughter kicks off flip flops or shoes and she got mom into the habit. So nice to see!

 

I agree it's great to see children being raised to understand there's nothing wrong or naughty about it. My ten year old lives in her flips, and kicks them off at every opportunity following my example. Unfortunately her mother's not so keen!

 

Encouraging parents to let their kids walk barefoot as often as possible has been around for more than 70 years, as an article from The Milwaukee Sentinel from July 26, 1932 shows.

The article begins as follows: "Let whoever can, go barefoot but be especially tolerant of barefooted children. They need to feel the earth under their bare feet. It cools them, rests their feet and soothes their minds, all at the same time and without cost."

Reading this, it sounds like a modern-day pro-barefoot article applying to all age groups.

Wiggling bare toes,

~*Ganesha*~

 

My kids a barefooter!

 

As I'm only 16 and too young to be a parent, (or hopefully, as most people would think), I don't think I apply, but my parents never really liked going barefoot outside, and only half the time inside. They wear socks. But nonetheless, I respect them as they respect my lifestyle choices~

 

I love taking my son (two-years-old) out to the park and for walks around town, and I never make him wear shoes. He's the best excuse I have for splashing in puddles barefoot, as without him I would just look dumb. I still get the 'barefoot look' from passers-by, but I've noticed they are less frequent when I'm with my son. After checking out the Parents for Barefoot Children site at http://www.unshod.org/pfbc/, linked IIRC from SBL, I decided not to cripple my child with foot problems later in life. If he wants shoes later, he can make up his mind then, but the irreversible effects of early childhood shoe-wearing were enough to change my thinking! Now I just have to convince his mother that situations in which being shod is more beneficial are exceedingly rare, as she seems to find the smallest excuses to get out the sandals, unfortunately. Needless to say, she suffers HIS wrath, because he hates his shoes!

 

In South Africanthe kids are barefooters(80%,and kids attend school barefootngo to church barefootAnd my kid os andanty barefooternand. I am as wellnI go barefoot everywhereneven to university.

 

I have the same trouble with my ten year old's mother, always telling her to "put something on her feet". I always feel the ideal response to that remark would be to put on some toe rings! However at the moment I don't want to push the point and just hope she follows my example.

 

Honestly i dont see what the big deal is. My son is 2, and I'll ask him "do you want shoes or do you want barefeet?". "barefeet" is always the response I get. He is aware of the fact he could step on something, but chooses to go barefoot anyways and just keep an eye out for stuff. As we walk I make a point to show him the things that will hurt if he steps on them. After no time at all he was telling ME to "be carefull mommy! Dont step on that!". In my opinion by not forcing him to wear shoes Im giving him the chance to make his own choices, as well as weigh the risks of said choice. This lesson is carrying over in other aspects of his life too.

 

+...Great Post...:2thumbsup:...Get's A Big Pos Rep From GLEN...



Cheers Glen.

 

Thanks

 

That to me is really enlightened parenting! Unfortunately my gf does not think the same and is of the traditional view that going barefoot is wrong, period. She accepts it in me as one of my eccentricities

 

Guess I'm lucky with that...hubby doesnt care. He's not a barefooter but he could care less whether we wear shoes or not.

 

now it's the school holidays there are less restrictions and I'm pleased to say my 2 are taking after their mother and are barefooting more and more. My oldest started wearing flip-flops to school and kicking them off in class and the teachers were cool about it, unlike when I was a kid. Luckily their school isn't run by health and safety jobsworths which is just as well as I help out as a part-time teaching assistant, barefoot of course.

 

Went to the food hall in Marks & Spencer last weekend and my little girl insisted on going barefoot. She absolutely loved it and couldn't wait to get home to tell mummy how well she'd done. I think she's going to be a real 24/7 barefooter when she's older!

 

I can say I never forced my kids to wear shoes. There's plenty enough people around to do that - including their mom! They had to follow the dress code for school, but here at home we're always barefoot. Friends and neighbors comment regularly about that. My boys are teenagers now and usually just wear flip flops when we're out and about. My daughter (age 10), being a typical girl, loves her shoes, but will still barefoot often enough. I'm still usually the only one who will venture out in bare feet. For example, today we went to Home Depot for some paint and my family all wore sandals and I was barefoot.

 

(This seems to fit in with the high vibe of the thread. )

 

I grew up not wearing footwear in th countryside a much softer footway was; on the whole an easy option - the urban enviroment however is ithink, a different proporsition
Though without not advocating it, I allowed it > with care, for my Children and will be doing as such with my Grand Daughter

 

Well I've been barefooting all summer, and my 20-month old has been barefoot nearly 24/7 this summer as well. Several times a week he and I will both take a walk through the neighborhood or park, both of us barefoot. It's awesome.

Now my wife usually leaves him barefoot most of the day as well. However both she and my mother-in-law insist on him wearing shoes if he's going to be walking outside anywhere away from home. They insist on the dangers of stepping on a pebble or piece of glass or other hazards, partly because my wife stepped on a wasp when she was younger and now is afraid of walking on sidewalks or paths barefoot. She'll leave him BF in our own back yard, but my MIL will put socks or shoes and socks on him even in her back yard, as she thinks he's allergic to grass (everything else). I'm HIGHLY allergic to grass (cut grass anyway) and haven't had any problems being BF in the yard.

I try to explain to them the importance of being barefoot and not in "foot coffins" especially during the younger years, yet my MIL still goes to yard sales and buys up whatever stiff-soled kids shoes she can find and stuffing his fat feet into them.