A few years ago, I was your typical office-worker: stressed out, uneven energy, overweight, and inconsistent complexion. Now I'm just your typical 28-year old urban hunter-gatherer on a quest to be healthy, and having a few adventures along the way. See my full bio.
It might be socially awkward for an adult to go barefoot in a variety of situations (especially if you're not a prince). I get that.
With kids, however, it's easy. And that's the most formative time in the development of the foot. So we should let our kids go around barefoot whenever possible -- on the playground, at home, in the backyard.
This is a short clip of the young daughter of Jeanne, one of our core team at Barefoot Runners NYC.
Says Jeanne:
"There was another family there who was asking me a ton of questions about how I got my child to be so agile. I told them I take her to the playground about 2x a day and let her go barefoot -- so she can grip better & have better balance.
She got completely soaked in the sprinkler, so I took her pants off -- the family promptly took off their 2 year old's shoes and his pants -- so their son could move freely too. This was the first and only time someone has copied my barefoot parenting tactics -- immediately!
Go figure! It is catching on. Barefoot has gone viral."
Comments
My boys (12, 10 and 8) still
My boys (12, 10 and 8) still regularly remove their shoes at public playgrounds. They are generally barefooted unless we are going to stores and such. Even now that is getting to be only 40, they still go out and play with no shoes. Our default shoes for them are flip flops, Chuck Taylor's, and cheap water shoes.
Gasp! Bare feet at a NYC
Gasp! Bare feet at a NYC playground? The nanny state will not abide!
All children should love
All children should love barefoot, my four are constantly taking thier shoes off on the playground, and the other parents give me dirty looks for letting them. Walking across town with them always ends up in Le Parkour junior championships, and they always turn somersaults in the subway. I am constantly surprised at how fit and agile they are, as I was a shy and fat kid. I go barefoot a lot, though, and after the four kids my mother-in-law stopped telling me going barefoot makes one infertile... Binki in Stockholm, Sweden
You should let kids go
You should let kids go barefoot for as long as possible. Its natures way. Only when they need to go outside should you put a good fitting pair of shoes on their feet.