I’ve always had wide feet. I get them from my mom’s side of the family. I spent most of my childhood and early adult years squeezing my feet into shoes that were too narrow. As a result, my feet always hurt, so I’d take my shoes off every chance I got. I got used to walking barefoot and the soles of my feet grew thick and sturdy. Finding shoes for dress up occasions like high school dances was the worst. I wanted pretty high heeled shoes like all the other girls. But none ever fit my feet.
I spent a little over 2 years in Fiji as a Peace Corps volunteer. The weather was always warm so I never needed shoes for warmth. I spent most of those 2 years completely barefoot. If I had to go into town, I would usually wear a pair of flip flops (but sometimes I’d go to town barefoot too). My wide feet were finally free!
Since the Peace Corps, I’ve gotten married, had 3 kids, and worked full time at a typical office job.
It took a while for me to realize the benefits of barefoot style shoes for my kids. I thought that I was the only one who needed to go barefoot and wear extra wide shoes. I hoped that my kids wouldn’t inherit my wide-feet genes and be able to wear “normal” shoes. My first two girls both started walking in the fall, just after they each turned one. They were always barefoot in the house, but it was cold outside. So I bought them Stride-Rite shoes like all the other moms were doing. It wasn’t until I had my third girl that I started to think differently about my kids’ shoes. My third turned one at the end of spring, and would probably be learning to walk during the summer. Since her feet didn’t need to protected from the cold, did she really need “walking shoes?” Why not just let her learn to walk barefoot? It seemed so natural and so RIGHT! And if walking barefoot was best for my one-year-old, and I already knew it was best for me and my extra-wide feet, maybe it was best for my other kids too. And that’s when I started down the barefoot minimalist shoe rabbit hole. Here we go!
Barefoot Kids 