my kids love being barefoot?

Question

my sons 8 and 10 love going outside barefoot the only time there not barefoot is to school and there they vwear crocs without socks or watershoes my son was barefoot at the movies in the mall and there were barefoot at chuck cheese how to get them to wear shoes or is barefoot ok

Answer 1

There shouldn't be anything wrong with going barefoot. In spite of what many people think, it's NOT unhealthy, dangerous or illegal. Our skin is made to keep pathogens out -there is a worm that can enter through the skin, the hookworm, but it's all but gone from the South since modern plumbing has replaced the outhouses and never was much of a problem in cooler climates. Other pathogens, we're at far greater risk of picking something up through our hands than through our feet, since any surface regularly touched by many people (door knobs, shopping carts, money) is covered in germs, and with our hands we are much more likely to transfer these to our faces and/or food.

Skin is quite tough too; I am barefoot literally everywhere, for ten years, I never divert my step no matter how much glass I see and I get a tiny splinter maybe once a year, never had a cut. In case something does go wrong, the tetanus vaccine has been around since the 1920's, and should be kept up to date regardless of whether you go barefoot since there are other ways of catching it apart from the well-known rusty nail.

Many people believe that bare feet are against the law in stores and/or restaurants, however that is NOT true. Any business can set their own dress code but there are no laws requiring footwear even in the US and outside the US it's rare to find even a dress code requiring shoes. Insurance companies don't require or even recommend shoes for customers either.

'Foot odor' should be called 'shoe odor'; it's not the sweat itself but it comes from bacteria breaking down the sweat in anaerobe circumstances (with little or no oxygen, as inside a shoe). On the bare foot, sweat just dries up without the smell.

The 'health and safety' reasons are all based on myths and misconceptions, outside the US, including in the rest of the Western world, most people think going barefoot is very healthy. The only reason to wear shoes -apart from extreme circumstances like heavy snow or construction sites- is social; many people simply don't like bare feet. But this is really a silly reason too, since flipflops are usually considered okay and you can see all of the foot wearing those too.

Fatherofthree: I wore shoes full-time until I was almost 29, didn't know anyone who went barefoot so I was used to it. I still knew the moment I first heard of people going barefoot in public that I wanted to do it too, I took off my shoes and never put them on again! Also, I was out of work for several years in my twenties; soon after I started to go barefoot I found a job and I've been working for the past ten (barefoot) years.

Answer 2

Unless there is snow on the ground I would leave them alone. People get so paranoid. It wasn't too long ago when everyone was barefoot. When I met my husband, I didn't even know he owned shoes. He was raised on the Long Island Sound so he was constantly barefoot. He moved to the Chicago area, and in summer never ever put on a shoe unless it was for school or work. So what??? They are kids for such a short time. Pretty soon they will be told what to wear and how to act and blah blah blah. Let them have the memories of bare feet and sunshine!!! Good carefree times. That is what childhood is supposed to be about. I would not let them at the movies or Chuck E cheese because that is just gross. Tell t hem if they don't wear shoes they cannot go to those places.

Answer 3

Let them be barefoot. There are many articles and studies showing the il-effects shoes have our feet. The most recient artical I've read is in the washington post http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/04/AR2007050401940.html.

There are no laws preventing anyone from being in establishments barefoot.

Dr. Lynn Staheli, who directed the orthopedics division at the Children's Hospital in Seattle for 15 years,
documented that children raised in parts of the world where shoes are rarely worn had
better flexibility, mobility, and strength, which resulted in fewer foot-related
problems and injuries. In the 1960 classic “Take Off Your Shoes and Walk”, chiropodist Simon Wikler notes that children who go barefoot regularly develop stronger, healthier, and more functional feet than children who are generally shod. (He notes that a “constantly shoe-wearing tenderfoot” is rarely able to comprehend the innate capability of the human foot.) The following site covers such topics as when and when not to let children go barefoot, what doctors think, and parental testimonials. It also features excerpts from “Take Off Your Shoes and Walk.”
http: www.unshod.org/pfbc/index.html

Answer 4

They need to get use to wearing shoes as crocks and barefeet will not work in the corporate world. You do want them to have a good job right?

Anyway go buy them some new shoes and new socks. Tell them from now on they must put them on when they wake up in the moring and must leave them on until bedtime. Tell them they can take them off later in the evening when they show you they can wear them all day without trying to remove them or protest. Make them wear them all day every day even if you are not going anywhere. Do not allow them to wear the crocks as they are not real shoes. In fact throw them away! My kids have been doing this since they have been walking and like wearing shoes over being barefoot. Again make no exceptions and make sure you let them pick them out. Make sure they are real shoes that completly cover the foot, tennis shoes are best. Also make sure they wear socks at all time.
Good luck! In a few weeks they will be use to it.

Answer 5

I'm 45, and I'd always rather be barefoot. Check your local laws, though. In some areas it's against the law to be barefoot in certains places (stores, restaurants, theater, etc).

If they're breaking the law, then tell them that. Let them know that there are some things they CAN do and some they CANNOT no matter how much they want to. That's just a fact of life.

Answer 6

I love being barefoot and Im almost 40.....
I think that those place it is ok for them to be barefoot.... Just have them wear socks if they are out in public astablisments..

Answer 7

Barefoot is NOT ok in public. When you take your kids to the movies, they need something on their feet. Going barefoot at Chucky Cheese is NOT a good idea either. IT is also a restaurant as well as an indoor fun park, this is a state regulation, and barefoot is NOT allowed. Even in the fun park, then they need socks, which can be purchased right at the counter. Since they don't wear socks, they must wear them in the fun park, and they can take them off when they are finished in the park. If you wouild like them to wear shoes in public. Say something such as. If you do not put on your shoes right now, you will not go out to the mall, the mnovies, or anywhere else.

Answer 8

The barefoot is Ok.

My son is barefoot all the time.

Answer 9

i love being barefoot to

Answer 10

normal! i am 21 and love being barefoot