Barefoot GrandDaughter

Quite difficult to go to IKEA and not pick up a little something in the portable item section... their houseplants are rather good.
And a cheap, grandparent friendly cafe!

. She is behaving — badly!

jingle behave

"I felt everyone was staring at use, but maybe they were not".

j45108, they were staring at you.

FlicketyB have to agree about broken toes, I have done it twice whilst barefoot and it is agony when you do it.

Only ever seen one person without shoes and that was a rather grubby looking man who lived in the next village; he used to cycle through our village [barefoot] on his way home. Have to say I would probably stare at a child with no shoes on and would worry about such things as treading on broken glass or [if in the garden] wasps or bees [I trod on a bee once, and it was jolly painfull]. Interesting to read of so many people having healthy feet and not wearing shoes much in their youth. My feet are awful. Think most people tend to take their shoes off in their homes now, but can't say I've seen it outside of the home.

Good question. Maybe most people find it too cold, or too uncomfortable, or too unconventional. But if one doesn't think it any of those things, there isn't a problem.

Ah well I now see I am the odd one.

I have actually take my granddaughter to the park after school today despite it being quite cold she was not bothered about it. We later went to Burger King and into the restaurant area. I felt everyone was staring at use, but maybe they were not.

Iam going to go to Ikea on Thursday see if I can find anything I like lol, maybe take my granddaughter too.

Thanks for al your input to my post, however if most people thinks that iy is OK for children to go round without their shoes (and these around me seem to do so too) then why is it not more common?

I've never broken a toe (or anything else) ever. Also have very strong arches, no bunions and great shaped feet

DH and (adult) children walk round the house barefoot. I slide my feet out of my shoes as soon as I sit down but walk round the house with shoes on. I give all this detail because DH and DD seem to break a toe every few years. I 've lost count how often one or other has damaged their feet. DH has two toes strapped together at the moment, he pranged that toe on a chair leg. Me? never broken a toe in my life.

I take shoes off as soon as I can, wherever I can. The moment I step inside my front door I release my feet, and I do the same at friends' houses. It has never occurred to me to do otherwise, and I'd never met anyone who has as much as mentioned it. I really couldn't cope with anything on my feet when at home.
My kids used to laugh at me for saying I couldn't think with shoes on, but I can't.
I spent most of my childhood barefoot, and could run across the pebbly Brighton beach with ease. (I can still walk along the pebbles barefoot too )
I think nothing of taking my shoes off to walk home if I've been out in heels, regardless of the weather. It actually feels lovely in the rain

Oh yes - I do believe I have some IKEA furniture too

In Switzerland it is usual for school beginners - and of course kindergarten children to go barefoot in the summer months.

I go barefoot in summer, too and the rest of the time wear those healthy Birkenstock cork sandals which Germans are famous for wearing and get laughed at because of them, but they do prevent foot problems and I have pairs at all the houses I visit.

I'm always barefoot in the house, and often in the garden (once I've got past the gravelly stuff)! My feet are really good - no problems with arches, apart from the fact that they are a bit high!

Both my parents worked in the shoe trade but I (and my brothers and sisters) were actively encouraged NOT to wear shoes or socks. I still hate having to wear them.... It is very bad for tiny feet to be encased in tight fitting socks/shoes. Like Absent I've never had a problem walking about in bare feet even clambering over rocks and walking on stony tarmac. Walking barefoot is not the cause of fallen arches.

I've had flat feet/fallen arches for as long as I can remember. In fact there was an exercise I was encouraged to do when very young which was to practice picking up a pencil from the floor by curling my toes around it.

It has only been in the past 10 years that I started to suffer discomfort and pain, but with good, specially made insoles, I'm now v. comfortable. However, I still love going bare foot in the summer, but I suffer the consequences!

I think your granddaughter, j45108 will make her own choices in due course.

Thank you, bagitha. He was born with them - fortunately, he is a diver so he is able to enjoy his sport in spite of the flat feet. He throws his feet out when he walks, which looks a bit strange, but he does not need to wear arch supports.

Sorry about your grandson's fallen arches, greatnan. What a nuisance for him! Did he always have the problem or was it caused by some injury or illness?

I have always suspected that "supportive footwear for children" is successful marketing by footwear companies.

My daughter lives in New Zealand and you see all kinds of people shopping barefoot. My grand-daughter says she takes off her shoes before she goes into school, to be like all the other girls.
Fallen arches (flat feet) can be quite painful - my grandson in England was unable to take part in many physical activities - if he makes a footprint it shows the whole sole of his foot. My ex-husband was excused National Service because he had flat feet and could not march.

Anyone with healthy feet does not need supportive shoes except for things like climbing mountains (and 'barefoot' mountain marathon runners even argue with that). We evolved without shoes. We have all the bones and muscles we need to support our feet. Flat-footedness is a problem but it is not caused by walking barefoot.

My kids probably spent about 50% of their childhoods running around barefoot.

Re healthy, unsquashed feet having difficulty finding shoes to fit. Well, yes, but that's the fault of shoe designers, not the fault of feet!

I do mean well fitting, supportive, shoes.

I think they are the same as flat feet jess. Not sure really.

I don't think current medical opinion agrees with you about shoes, though. (not talking very small children here, indoors)

I think jingle that no shoes strengthens rather than weakens feet.
What are fallen arches anyway?

I did wonder that Bags, but it's quite interesting.

I think it was one thing when children went barefoot all day. The soles of their feet would have toughened up. (But was glass used all over the place in those times?) But if a child wears shoes to school everyday, would that mean their soles were softer?

It's just silly anyway. The child's feet will probably spread and she will be unable to find a pair of shoes to fit her comfortably in the future. Not to mention fallen arches.

This thread has reminded me of Dylan Thomas's character Mrs Waldo in ^Under Milk Wood^: "What'll the neighbours say? O... what'll the neighbours...?"

I'm beginning to wonder if it's a classic wind-up too — the kind that can be quite fun though .