To feel quite annoyed when I see bare footed people in an indoor play area where it clearly says - WEAR SOCKS

[elizaregina]

I am not a big foot fan, and thankfully I dont have to delve into the depths of the indoor play centers to retreive my child anymore, but when I see adults go in or children with bare feet it makes me cringe and feel sick! All the foot germs etc!

U obviously can't help cringing, some things make me cringe that shouldnt, eg the sound of ppl eating. However there's nothing wrong with being barefoot, peoples hands probably have more bacteria, from wiping nose, touching dirty things, not washing hands after toilet etc. if u start thinking about it so much, you'd go crazy and probably never go out!! A bit of bacteria is good for us anyway.

being barefoot on a natural surface is one thing but being barefoot on a plastic vinyl isn't great is it surely

On the flip side I hate the sock rule, my kids (and me for that matter) like to be bare foot whenever possible. We show daily and do not have stinky feet germs!! People these days are far to germ obsessed as far as I'm concerned and dont even get me started on the mummies with the anti-bac gel squirting away at every opportunity

oops should have said shower not show!

Adults should wear socks, parents slipping trying to catch offspring is part of the fun for the children! But OP did refer to children too. Again due to my piano toes I'm not the barefoot parent :(

I love being barefoot holidaywoe, fresh air is probably the reason your feet don't stink or have germs :)

Debez, my indoor play centers lets in children that seem quite old, i dont think babies or toddlers in thier soft play area is a problem to be sockless.

mine has a seperate area for babies and under threes...that section doesnt bother me, although for the childrens sake i hope mum keeps her " trotters" under wraps...

Children gettting to four ish and older and adults in partiuclar I think - should abide by the rules of the play center.

Its a simple fact that lots of barefoot people spread veruccas, athlestes foot and all the rest.

i do think germs are good - and my goodness dont they get them in these play centers - but surely wearing a sock - is helping to stop at least one nasty foot problem spreading?

I actually think socks in soft play are a dangerous thing - they make everyone slip and slide. Children climbing in socks is madness.

indoor play is pretty mad

i have worked in indoor play places and i think everyone should wear trainers in them

Ew. Bare feet in indoor playgrounds is a bit yuk, IMO (athlete's foot, warts etc.) All of the ones we go to have a rule regarding socks (adult tights aren't even allowed!) and if you forget they sell them at the front desk for $1/pair.

I spent the first 6 months of son's life in full blown pfb panic. They I realised he was gonna get sick, gonna fall over, gonna pick up things from the floor and I could let him have his fun or not. Not saying foot disease is fun but you're only small once. The local soft play would have some judgy-pants on here hoiked right up, Sunderland's soft play is grim, never made him sick though and to him it was a magic wonderland of fun.

I do see your point elizaregina and this may be one of those agree to disagree things :)

I wear socks but dd 4yrs and ds age 2 don't. I think it's a bit dangerous for kids to climb over the equipment with slippery socks. I don't look at other kids and think ewww with no socks, seems sensible to me. Might think ewww about the adults, but that's possibly illogical in light of the fact I don't mind kids barefoot.

I'm on the fence with the sock thing TBH, but twice recently I've had to point out to children (and then subsequently to staff since I couldn't see the parents) that they absolutely shouldn't be using the equipment with their outdoor shoes still on!

I like feet, so bare feet, as such don't bother me, but now that the treatment for verruca's has changed and the doctor won't remove them, means that children who are susceptible, can suffer for months and they don't always completely go.

They are not constantly infectious, but look unsightly and are not comfortable.

My 16 year old has scarring from them, they are not always easy to treat and affect the rest of the household, so i think that the adults and older children should wear socks.

They are a bit like cold sores, easy to prevent cross infection and bloody annoying when your child gets them.

FWIW, I am one of those evil people who kicks off their shoes at every opportunity, and the one and only time I had to visit a chiropodist to remove some hard skin on my heels, she told me I had the best feet she had seen in months. preens

Re slipping?

If it was that dangerous they wouldnt let you have socks, i have never ever slipped in socks, nor has DD.

Birdsgottafly YUK!!!!

I spent as much time barefoot as I can. it just feels better. I have never had a verruca. Neither have any of my kids. DH, on the other hand, who is phobic about having his feet bare, has athletes foot regularly. It's obvious really. It's fairly unnatural to have feet always covered and germs love warm sweaty places...

The sock rule it to prevent burns on the slides not the tranmission of foot germs.

As socks are not made of impermiable material and germs are very, very, very little, socks would be useless in steming the tide of infection and disease.

So tbh YABU

And a bit mad

I dislike the sight of other grown up feet though specially OH's