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>Hi Sally, hi all! Wonderful that your children are >fine going full time barefoot, I assume winters don't >get very cold where you live? >My daughter Rita is now three and a half years old and >she has never liked anything on her feet. On the >coldest days of winter she wears Skinners socks but >will slip them off at the first opportunity. She >quickly learned to watch where she steps so she's >safely going barefoot everywhere in the city and >countryside. And in her age she's walking more and >more every day. >She inspired me to go barefoot as well, especially >when teaching her to walk I often went out barefoot >with her. But I only do that where it's pleasant for >me, so in parks, gardens and meadows when the weather >is nice. She doesn't seem to have a limit, there's >almost no surface she has difficulties walking on. >Of course I quickly got used to the sight of her soles >getting black when she walks in front of me. It >depends on the weather, when it's moist she loves to >go through puddles which cleans her feet. When it's >been a longer dry period more dust accumulates on the >roads. That dust comes from rubber tyres, soot and >brake pads. It also gets dusty where a lot of people >are walking, such as malls. Parking garages might have >traces of oil and fuel from leaky cars on the ground. >At the stations of trains and metros it mostly seems >to be dust from the brakes. >Once we took a museum steam train with our girl, the >cars had open platforms and were quite sooty, leading >to "perfectly" black soles ... We walked a certain >distance afterwards which walked off some of the soot >so only the black edges remained. >Dust will cling to the soles where they touch the >ground, emphasizing the pads, balls and toes. It's >fascinating to see the transformation in young >children who go from flat-footed baby feet to raised >arches within a few years. I just see that transition >in Rita. By the way her feet were "baby soft" as she >started to walk, but she still was fine walking over >gravel and rocks with all due caution. >It's usually easy to wash or scrub off dust as it's >not sticky. Other substances are stickier, such as >molten road asphalt or tree resin, we use a hand >washing paste for those. >Some children are fascinated by how black their feet >can get. Parents shouldn't worry or even accuse their >children of getting dirty soles. It's a natural part >of barefoot childhood. What I do though is to teach my >girl how to clean her feet before visiting friends at >home.

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