AIBU to think that children walking barefoot is disgusting?

[lopmonkln]

I saw a post of a closed group on F/B and was repulsed but am getting a lot of vitriol for saying that a woman who lets her dd walk around in public spaces sans footwear, besides being idiotically unhygienic, seems to be giving off the illusion that her family is so impoverished that they cannot afford shoes.

Apparently utilization of "homeopathy" is sufficient to keep her offspring healthy and immune to germs and bacteria.

"Wow apparently this needs to be added - yes she is barefoot! No I don't care if you don't think she should be! Yes I would have been too if the sign hadn't said I had to wear them to enter the store. Yes I am aware of the germs on the floor. Yes I also let her go barefoot in some of the poorest areas of northern Mexico and I walked right next to her barefoot as well! So did my husband and my other 2 kids. We even walked around in stores barefoot there. Yes we are healthy, no we don't have parasites because of this. I am trained in homeopathic health care, we take everything we need daily to prevent parasites and have never had them when tested. No I don't need your opinion on my decision to avoid shoes and yes we will all continue to go barefoot every chance we get!! Send me a pm and I will delete it. Tell me off and I will ignore you. This is a crochet page not a judge my parenting page."

My kids rarely wear shoes when the weather is good.
Going barefoot often is actually beneficial for your feet! It encourages your foot to hold its natural shape and walk with your own natural gait - shoes alter the position of your foot.
My husband's feet are knackered from wearing combat boots all day every day for work (military) and my sister has bunions at 27 from wearing stilettos everyday from the age of about 18

You do realise of course, that in PUBLIC spaces, people go to the toilet, use the toilet then walk those toilet germs all over the floor on which your children are walking.

Yes OP. I'm not sure what toilets you use but here they are cleaned rigorously. Usually by someone shooing you out with a mop before you've flushed the loo.

Granted the ones in my youth were seriously dodgy but we've moved on since then.

Also I wash my DCs regularly so the whole germ thing isn't an issue (and I'm a serious germaphobe). I even bath them on birthdays and at Christmases

WTF has crochet got to do with any of the barefoot stuff are we making bootees?

9yr old DD goes barefoot a lot. I don't like it but I pick my battles, if there's glass or muck then shoes go on.

Barefoot walking is good for bone structure and balance. It's actually very beneficial.

Regardless, saying she looked too poor for shoes was just nasty.

You’d have been lucky to get me in shoes as a kid .... I still hate wearing the bloody toe prisons ( unless it’s an amazing new pair of boots, preferably oxblood).
She’s not putting her feet in your space, her personal finances are not your business, her kid is her kid.

Carry on though Hyacinth ... as you were

As someone else mentioned Australia. Don't ever move to NZ either. Children grew up barefoot there. I remember in boarding school at 6th and 7th form and practically no one wore shoes except in class. I'm always amazed at the comments about the dangers of needles and glasses in parks on MN. No it's perfectly safe.

user1483644229 it's perfectly safe in Auckland too. We were in the inner suburbs, ie Auckland city council areas. We were barefoot too.

OP. You are ridiculous.

What you get from that is that barefoot is bad?

Homeopathy is dangerous (more so that no shoes), it stops people seeking proper medical treatment, as far as I'm concerned it should be illegal.

I need to know what crochet groups you're in OP.

I wonder if she would still feel the same way about her homeopathic protection from illness of her kid stepped on a needle and caught aids.

There are so very many documented cases of this happening.

OP, the mother sounds a bit bonkers re homeopathy but you sound like you were being an arse, TBH. I can’t quite believe you commented on someone’s parenting on a crafting page.

Our eldest can lick the soles of his feet, we're very proud of him. Just thought I'd mention.

Maybe you could crotchet this persons children some shoes, if you're that concerned.

Ew. I go barefoot where i can. Not in public stores. My friend got hookworm in his foot (it was some kind of worm) from going barefoot in india. Bleugh.

I have Aspergers, I fucking hate shoes oh for it to be socially acceptable to go bare foot. (Although I live in the hippy capital of the Cotswolds so it might be)

Sorry certainly as child it was my mothers worse nightmare to get me to wear socks and shoes. It's a sensory issue my feet feel restricted and it's weight on them. I honestly take them off as soon as I'm able

I take all the points about dog shit and glass whatever. But honestly it's not disgusting it's great. I'd like to do it more often.

Too poor to wear shoes that's a bit snobby, why would you judge how much money they've got by what they've got in their feet especially if their holiday makers

I know MN generally thinks homeopathy is woo, but I haven't completely written it off for certain things.....but preventing parasites???? Wtf?

I also want to know which store the chins was barefoot in....they had obviously had barefoot shoppers before if they feel they have to have a sign saying people must wear shoes.

HeadDreamer

I am loving this thread. It was just so normal to wear bare feet growing up in New Zealand! :-)

I don't like kids running around barefoot, tbh. Their feet end up filthy and you end up with an extra job of washing them - you can't put feet to one side to clean later unless you don't mind also washing carpets and bedsheets. They invariably step on something that, either cuts their feet so you have to fumble around for a plaster or something smelly and horrid. I am definitely a fan of shoes and certainly see the logic behind them.

Basic hygiene like cleaning the toilet and floor regularly, and washing hands after using the toilet, are all that healthy people need to keep from getting ill. Bacteria travelling from a toilet floor to someone's shoe to the ground outside to another person's bare foot which will be washed at the end of the day - this is not a health risk. It just isn't. (Homeopathy, on the other hand...)

OP, you realise that we, and most everything we touch, are teeming with microbes? They're everywhere. They're supposed to be. It's normal.

Crochet groups on Facebook are crazy a lot of the time.

You wash your kids' feet in a public sink. A public sink that others must use to wash their hands.

Huh, I’ve read this thread through twice and nowhere can I see anyone saying this, have I missed something?

We had a Kiwi vicar for a while, who was totally happy with DC scampering about in the (actually quite high) church. Made him a bit wistful for home, I think.

The word "disgusting" is used too freely on MN