Barefoot GrandDaughter

I particularly like the trays in the ikea canteen which enable you to manage more than one person's meal at once if you need to. yee-ha!

Had to reply to this thread!

My GD aged seven and nine also go barefoot and I am not bothered what others think but it is ageing me considerably. I watch them riding bikes, climbing trees, jumping off the play equipment in the park, running around with their friends sure they will hurt themselves, they never do but I can't help the feeling. Rough ground does not bother them but it bothers me.

Never forget getting to their house when the thow had just started last year after a freeze. the sun was hot and there was ice under the standing water, the snow that had been moved to the side of the drive was also melting, to find my GD running around dressed in summer dresses and white knee high socks and no shoes. They had done snow angles in the melting snow and were sliding off the snow into the water. I expected to be visiting them in hospital the next day, but they did not even get a runny nose.

I noticed on the thread that Butternut mentioned you have fallen arches. May I ask where you get your insoles? I am having terrible trouble finding any, and my podiatrist charges £6000 per year to fit them which is beyond my means. Any tips would be gratefully received!

Irisflag. £6000 seems a massive amount for special insoles. Aren't they provided by the NHS for a nominal fee? I'd be v. interested to know, for when/if I return to England.

I live in France, (which doesn't help you any I'm afraid) and my podiatrist charges Euros 130.00 a pair to my prescription, which he makes on site - and they last me just under a year. I wear them most days. I walk a great deal, and they are marvellous.

£6000 sounds way too much! You can get them for much, much cheaper I'm sure. Have a shop around...

I am quite surprised at how many of you seem to go for this barefoot buisiness. It would have probably done my feet some good.

I don't go around barefoot much, I hate cold feet. Somehow though I am always shedding footwear when I am home.

Lost a shoe? I look under the last table or chair I was sitting at.

I buy my arch support insoles on e-bay.....cheap as chips!!

I spent my childhood barefoot as we lived in the middle East and flip-flops were worn for special occasions. I was told when I was about 14 that I would always have trouble with flat feet and boy, are they flat!! I can't wear ballet pumps without pain shooting up my legs and flip-flops are a thing of the past. Thank goodness for the insoles which I wear in all my shoes and boots.

My family walk barefoot round the house and my daughter barefoot in the garden. At least once a year one or the other badly damages a toe, including a number of breaks, when the stub it on something.

Me? I wear sturdy backless clogs, which I slip off as soon as I sit down. I have never broken a toe or cut a foot badly.

Entertaining thread - I was a barefoot teenager and love having bare feet now. Your granddaughter may well use shoes as one of her rebellions as she gets older. IrisFlag - I have inflammatory arthritis and associated foot problems so I have orthotics made via biomechanics/podiatry at our local clinic. They are fantastic in helping avoid foot pain, but also work to help support my knee/hip and lower back. Like many people, I have one leg slightly shorter than the other, so one insole is built up. I have been lucky enough to be made 2 pairs a year, so I can keep one pair for walking boots/shoes and the other for decent shoes. Also, if my hands are inflamed and weak, it means I don't have to struggle to move them between shoes. I just had a new pair made, but was told the cuts mean I have to pay for the 2nd pair, £50. The podiatrist told me they'd cost £200 if I had them made privately. Being barefoot hasn't caused my foot problems, it's partly genetic and mainly arthritic.

If I can get out of shoes then I do. Spent most of my young life either in flip flops or barefoot and my feet hardened up. I could walk over a stoney beach without a whimper. It did get cold in winter so I tended to spend three miserable months in shoes. Now my feet are mis-shapened with arthritis and people say 'you should not have worn silly, fashion shoes when you were young'. I can honestly say I never did.

One thing I wonder about. I was told that feet had more nerve endings than anywhere else in the body. I have no idea if its true but I find reflexology amazing. If the soles of the feet are like leather presumably this wouldn't work. I go unshod in the house but I used to break a toe every year but I don't rush round as much now. I have repulsive feet so I wear clogs when visitors come unexpectedly

That's just an urban myth put about by Reflexologists Stansgran, hands have more 'nerve endings'. Check out
this
I hardly ever wear shoes in the house or round the garden. Far better for your feet and ankles.

I used to walk round Newcastle bare feet ..it was the fashion 50 years ago ..we would get the bus from home with shoes then put them in a locker at central station until it was time for home ..mother never new x

Love this thread! I hate shoes and walk around at home and in the garden barefooted whenever I can. When I,m out or in work I wear sandals for as long as I can according to the weather and from March to October never wear socks or tights as I hate them even more.

Mychildren were often like me and she'd footwear as much as possible although I made sure they wore something in the street. My grandchildren aged 4 are barefooted as much as possible but interestingly now their mother and aunt are grown up they like their feet to be warm and wear socks and fleecy slippers as much as possible so we can all change.

Being barefoot will give children beautifully shaped healthy feet.

Always barefoot in the house. I have yet to find a comfortable pair of shoes with my arthritic feet and ankles.

Re: fallen arches, get a referral from yer GP to the local' foot hospital'. They should be be able to make you in soles or whatever you need...gratis.

Thanks Aka but I gave up at the point where Ramandachan said that women who had a foot or feet amputated had greater orgasms. How did he find out I don't think I want to go there.

I have noticed that in New Zealand, a great many girls and young women habitually go barefoot even in the cities. Wouldn't like to do it myself though.