12 thoughts on “Going Barefoot… Are You Game?”
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  1. Makes sense, and I’m all for going barefoot too. We tend to play less at playgrounds are more in wooded trails etc… And it does make bare feet more challenging. But when there’s opportunity we take off our shoes. We are always barefoot at home. It actually feels odd when we have a guest over that leaves their shoes on- I can’t stop thinking about it. W likes to walk around outside in socks (so weird, and tough on socks!).

    I can’t even wear heals or shoes that aren’t super comfy. I always love your taste in fancy shoes… and can’t believe the shoe queen is telling me to ditch mine?! (I kid, I kid ;))

  2. I also agree that we should let our children be barefoot more, it’s very grounding and reminds you how sensitive the soles of our feet are and how much we feel with them.

    Sadly, with a opioid addiction epidemic in our beautiful state, I’ve heard more than once that needles were found at kids playgrounds in the wood chips and that makes me a bit more apprehensive knowing that out closest playground has some shady happenings going on at night.

    Otherwise, I am so for it and let them walk around without shoes all summer long!

    Have a lovely weekend!

    Alma

  3. I love to be barefoot, and we never wear shoes at home. And both girls didn’t wear shoes when at school either, which occasionally made me feel a bit weird / grossed out, but honestly, we wash our feet way more than we wash our shoes. So I prefer barefeet.

    I don’t worry too much about injuries outside, but I’m with Alma. I think I do have a fear of some things in big, open public places (and not just in cities, really anywhere). Sidewalks and rubberized surfaces, water fountain areas – those places don’t bother me, but I’m more wary with wood chips and lawns – places where it’s hard to see what is really there. I’m going to lean towards shoes in those places, for sure. There’s a good balance in between the two I think.

    Nothing better than bare feet at the beach though! We actually go to a very, very shelly beach (Sanibel Island), but I don’t mind walking gingerly among them. Plus, any little cuts we might get on our feet seem to clean up and heal almost instantly in the salt water.

    Again, though, where are these judgy people you keep running into? It seems hard to imagine that you’d get the stinkeye for having barefoot boys. Seems really petty. I’m curious what’s brought about this whole idea that everything has to be a “thing”, particularly with parenting. Do we honestly need another category, shoe-parents vs barefoot-parents? We subdivide way too much already. What a waste of time and effort to blow on something that shouldn’t even make a stir. It’s a boy, he’s romping around, he kicks off his shoes, who cares?

    (I know it’s a bit of a rant, not directed towards you at all, probably more related to the divisions and nastiness of the current political climate, and the general tone in comments in general.)

  4. I can’t keep shoes on my youngest especially (or socks–even when it’s so cold!), and we never wear shoes inside our home. I’m also very particular about the kind of shoes I put on my kids though–I’ll only buy ones that have really flexible soles. I cringe when I see little girls trying to run in those awful sandals with the hard, flat sole that doesn’t bend at all. It almost seems cruel! But I have had to get over a kind of “fear of germs” thing that I associated with bare feet–I think harkening back to wearing shoes to shower and avoid athletes foot? (Which I still picture as the green cartoon monster things depicted in television commercials–as though they are lurking everywhere.) Overall, I’d rather wash muddy feet in the tub than do another load of laundry any day.

  5. Hello i am sonni(21) an i’m happy to see that more and more people start to realise this

    I am walking bare feet for five years now and it helped me soo much
    Before i started i needed special shoes from a shoe doctor, i had no balance and i was only in my own mind

    Going barefeet really helped me to reconnect to the world and get control back of my body

    My feet are so strong now i can even do it in the heart of winter and i can even dance through glass for my feet have become really strong

    And all those excuses are allways so simple-minded, the only time i really had a problem with it was when i was hit by a car and wearing shoes wouldn’t have changed anything…

    Going barefeet really changed my life just try it just love it…
    If you want more information from me about this subject you may contact me
    Bananenhertog@hotmail.com
    Much love and happiness
    Sonni

  6. jiggers. With all the travel to south America and Africa we need to be vigilant. I had severe allergy s to sand fleas. Please educate public.on being alert to a new pest introduction.Barefoot in my house, yards I know are safe.

  7. Ha, ha, Lilly, I know! I do love my shoes. However, in this case, I was talking more about the kids and the importance of going barefoot to their development. Hard to believe now, but as a kid, I was barefoot ALL THE TIME! My mom actually stopped telling me to scrub my feet in the tub every night before bed because the bottoms of my feet were just permanently black in the summer time. I would go barefoot all over town and only bring my shoes with me if I was going into the grocery store. Hard to believe these days!
    But it is true that when it’s warm out I generally go barefoot when we’re at the playground, mainly because we slackline a lot and then I just don’t put them back on until it’s time to go home. It feels so good!

  8. Don’t your boys feel privileged compared to those who are forced into shoes by their parents?
    I have a feeling that decades later when they think back to their childhood, this freedom to grow up barefoot will be one of the things they are grateful for. There are always (hopefully) some things that you are particularly thankful for to your parents (in my case it’s that I grew up free of any political or religious indoctrination, so I chose not to join a religion and I’m happy about that to this day).

    Reading your blog it’s certainly not the only thing you are doing right as parents. So I hope you get your barefoot times as well, it would be too bad to forget it as an adult. Whenever I’m barefoot this also revives the inner child in me. (And I also love slacklining!)

  9. Love this Lauren! I remember you posting about this years ago and it stuck with me! Jackson has always been the kid to kick his shoes off everywhere! The first thing he does at a play ground is get out of those socks and shoes! His favorite place to take his shoes off though is at the movies or when he goes to school with me for Saturday musical rehearsal. He runs on the cool tiles and I see joy. I often gets looks of disdain and sometimes disgust too, but knowing that there are others out there who are supportive and understanding help to reassure me that I am doing a fine job parenting! Thanks for that!

  10. im 54 years old, male, professional, and have always been too inhibited to go barefoot. but thanks to Lauren’s article i will spend tomorrow barefoot indoors and out. Robert

  11. I love going barefoot and so does my gf. We live in a florida beach town and walk barefoot all over town, supermarket, farmers market, errands. Luv dirty soles and feet

  12. the only time I wear closed toe shoes is a t work.the minute im off I have a pair of flip flops in car to change into for errandsd.at home im barefoot the minute I am insdie the door.like the other person said im in warm climate so its easy if I was in a cold one I might change my mind

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