Emily,

Do you home school your children? If not, how does the school handle
them being barefoot? It seems like something they wouldn't like.
Public school especially are ridiculous with some of their policies.

--Nate

--- In RunningBarefoot@yahoogroups.com, Emily Troper <emtroper@...> wrote:
>
> My kids go barefoot everywhere here in Portland, year round, but we do
> get comments and stares (just the other day at the airport) and a lot
> of kids point out to their parents that my kids are barefoot (I assume
> the thinking is either "why do I have to wear shoes if those kids
> don't?" or "ooh, look, those kids are bad"). :) It was interesting
> that on our recent 10-day trip to Seattle we didn't get any comments
> or trouble from anyone (even in nice restaurants and museums).
>
> My husband and I do wear shoes (as does our teenager) but the younger
> three do not, ever. I do often bring shoes for the kids with me (in
> the car, or in my purse) because some stores/restaurants actually DO
> have a policy that states that everyone must wear shoes - but mostly
> people just THINK that it's a law or a policy when it's really not.
> And we can choose whether we want to shop there if our children are
> not welcome with their feet. At Fred Meyer last year, an employee
> told me the kids had to have shoes and I asked him if it was store
> policy - he said yes and I asked to see the policy in writing - after
> talking to several people, managers, etc. they could not produce it,
> and it turns out that it's NOT a store policy. It's not a health
> code, law, etc. and yes my child might step on a piece of glass now
> and then but they have tough feet and a small cut is not life
> threatening anyway - and barefooting is not dirty - first of all one
> doesn't eat or open doors with their feet, and the bottom of my
> child's feet are no more dirty than the bottom of their shoes would be
> - actually the feet are probably cleaner because we wash them
> frequently - I don't ever wash the bottom of my shoes! Anyway, I
> could go on and on...I do want to make a little pamphlet explaining
> that it's a personal choice, intentional, healthy and nothing for
> people to worry about! :)
>
> Emily
>