Do your children like wearing sandals in hot weather?

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My two nieces are very different in this respect. The younger one loves being in open-toed sandals: she wants to wear them at the first hint of spring, wishes she could wear them to school, goes barefoot in the garden, and would probably go barefoot everywhere if she was allowed. (Her parents discourage flip-flops, except for the beach and pool, thinking that it doesn't do children's feet good to walk in them.) But the older one hates sandals of any kind, saying that they hurt her feet, she likes her toes to be protected otherwise she stubs them, and she lives in trainers through the summer, and says firmly that she will never wear sliders and socks, like teenagers do. She doesn't like Crocs either.

Come to think of it, I didn't wear sandals much as a child, and never flip flops. I always liked trainers; my concession to summer was to wear them without socks. I didn't like sandals until I was about thirty, and I can't walk in flip flops.

What do your children like on their feet in the summer?

Ballet flats?

By the way, I'm not looking for suggestions for my sandal-dodging niece - I'm just curious about how many other children like to wear them.

Mine don’t. They’re 3 & 6, and quite outdoorsy so don’t like sandals. They’re not as good for running, and if you’re anywhere with loose ground (soil, bark at the playground etc) it gets into the sandals and gets stuck.

Mine runs about too much for sandals. He's nearly 3. Crocs do the job nicely even though I detest them😅

Crocs here too. Mine have always refused sandals.

One for family in nz. They seem to not wear summer shoes at all which would be right up my street but can’t quite get my head around it

Another thread making the normal seem abnormal.
Of course sandals are normal foot wear for warm weather.
Trainers are normal footwear for sports activities.
Why do you phrase your thread title to make it sound as though wearing sandals is abnormal?

Read my title. I said nothing about “normal” or “abnormal”. All I asked is if children like wearing them. Whether sandals are “normal” or not is a matter of opinion. There’s no “of course they’re normal summer footwear” about it. (You might be thinking of MN threads “men should never wear sandals because they all have manky feet”, which certainly make the normal seem abnormal.)

Mine like the idea, but not the reality.

They'll put sandals on and then inevitably trip over the toe, stop every thirty seconds to get a stone/leaf/sand out of their shoes and then get a blister.

We usually have sandals for the first day of summer and then they both put their trainers back on.

I never buy sandals for my dcs and I don't wear them myself. I like them to have shoes that are practical amd safe for any situation, so they wear trainers through the summer, unless it's raining, then they wear wellies.

Crocs, Birkenstocks.

DD has insisted on getting sandals every year but the reality of wearing them irritates her, no matter what the brand they rub/uncomfortable so get worn once then she's back to crocs/trainers. DS1&2 live in crocs/trainers.

Mine just live in trainers, neither of them, dd/ds would wear sandals.

Crocs all the way here