To think most dc don’t have a ready supply of old shoes

[Beforetheend]

School are planning a messy adventure trip next week and requested that the students bring old clothes and shoes. I don’t mind the clothes so much, but old shoes are a tall order. Ds has runners, school shoes, hiking boots and football boots. Even if I had the room to store old shoes, they’d probably be too small.

This request has come up about 5 times across my dc’s combined 20 years in school so far, and it always makes me wonder if I’m a bit odd for not having a supply of old stuff, or they’re a bit unrealistic to expect it.

I agree, I guess they just mean ones you don’t mind getting muddy.

This. Surely in this situation most people would just send them in wellies or trainers they didn't mind getting muddy, they don't actually mean old shoes.

And they always bloody ask once you've had a clear out!! Wwwwwhhhhhyyyy???

I had to go on to vinted to get some cheap trainers and tracksuit for ds for camping with cubs.

But surely they have shoes you don't mind them getting muddy - what do they wear when they are with you and go somewhere that's likely to be muddy - just send them in those.

Tatty ones for getting mucky. Ones you don't mind binning on return.

Surely you just send the hiking shoes. They just mean the pair of shoes they wear when doing messy things which mosr children will have

The wrong choice of words given that most kids out grow shoes before wearing them out. Obviously though they mean shoes that can get saturated with sticky mud and you don't worry, so there's no need to be pedantic!

I agree. Mine are only now starting to have old shoes as their feet have stopped growing but when they were smaller, they had one pair at a time usually, plus wellies.

I don't keep old shoes either but I'd send the kids in a pair of dark ones that I can put in the washing machine after. As long they're not totally brand new either!

Yep, this always happens for camp or outdoor learning. We never had old or even multiple pairs of trainers when they were little because they were growing so bloody fast and kids shoes are so expensive. Always ended up with the cheapest supermarket pair I could get in those situations.

I think most kids have shoes to wear in messy or muddy environments. The ‘old’ is just bad wording.

Children’s “old” shoes are, by definition, TOO SMALL.
Sometimes I think teachers aren’t from the same planet as the rest of us 🙄

They do t really mean old. They mean not new white or light ones that must stay pristine.

Wellies?

Hmmm. Maybe I’m being too literal (I’m autistic and ambiguous wording can make my brain itch)

But I think it means a bit more than normal muckiness. More like shoes you don’t mind them losing because they were wading through a river. Do most people have shoes like that? I don’t.

My boys never had spare shoes. They had school shoes and a pair of trainers. I would have had to go and buy a cheap pair for them to get muddy at school.

I’m autistic too and would be flummoxed by a request for “old shoes” to be worn. The kids’ old shoes are too small for them to wear anymore! To a messy place or anywhere else. It’s a literal impossibility. 😐

I agree OP, had same request for DS’s residential and specifically not wellies.
DS normally has 2 pairs of shoes - 1 pair of school shoes and 1 pair of trainers. Add in some sandals for summer holidays.
We were told they needed a pair of old shoes they didn’t mind throwing away if they got ruined. Any old shoes DS has are old because they no longer fit him. Got round it in end by ordering some old trainers cheaply on Vinted. Then also donated the old ones that no longer fitted to school and they said they came in useful as spares for other kids.

We have school shoes, trainers and wellies. Any old shoes are in fact too small.

Last time we had this request someone gave me a pair her ds had grown out of. Can you start some kind of shoe swap on a WhatsApp group?! As you say, there's no point keeping shoes that are too small. And as dc get bigger their shoes get expensive!

It means don't send them in their brand new designer trainers they got for their birthday.

So older shoes. Not old old.

You do know that if they didn't say that, somebody would send their kid in a pair of box fresh, limited edition, pure white trainers and designer beige linen top, cream velvet skirt and £20 sparkly white tights with a white fur jacket - then complain that they got dirty??

I’d send my kid in rubber boots- they wash off easily

I have often thought this! And never have “old” shoes! My kids generally just have 1 pair of trainers, school shoes and maybe some wellies. So you are definitely not alone!

I agree

adults have old shoes cos our foot size doesn’t change

kids never have old shoes.
just ones that no longer fit