My family has heard the spiel enough by now and they drink the Kool-Aid: minimalist footwear is better for your feet. Every time a shoebox arrives in the mail, my kids rip it open and proceed to critique the design. The last time that happend I had just arrived home from work. As soon as I walked through the door, Brienne (my seven year old) proceeded to tell me that the latest pair that had arrived were too narrow and that the heel was too thick...
My daughter's Perspective
We recently ordered her a pair of the VivoBarefoot Pally in red. These are a super cute Mary Jane style shoe, and my daughter absolutely LOVES them. I have to mention that never would we spend $65 on a single pair of shoes for any one of our children (it's just not in our budget), but we received a timely $50 off coupon from Terra Plana in the mail, and since our daughter was the one in need of new shoes, we picked these up for $15!
"Mom! they are super light!" she exclaimed the minute she took them out of the box. "And mom, look at the box, I can keep this and use it for my special treasures!" (and she has many, many special treasures). Then she put them on. We ordered a couple sizes larger so she could grow a bit, and it worked perfectly. She can wear them now but has room enough to grow into them. She wore them around the house all day long and EVERY time I came into the room, she had something new to say about them, "they are super light," "I LOVE the color," "they are super stretchy," "I can jump higher in these shoes, mom." The only negative comment she had was that they hurt her heel, but after wearing them for a couple of weeks, she says they don't hurt anymore. I believe this might have been because she was not used to the barefoot style and may have been using muscles she wasn't quite used to.
My son also had his own thoughts and impressions. My favorite: "They are like ninja shoes! You are so quiet when you walk around the house!"
So, there you have the thoughts of my 8 year old and my 5 year old.
Here are a few of my thoughts. I like that she wears them everywhere....hiking, climbing trees, riding bikes, and anything else she can does and they have held up very well. The bottom tread is still good as new (after 2 months of daily wear). She has even worn them splashing in puddles (sometimes you just can't resist), and they dried up just fine. I just took out the inserts and hung them by the fireplace. I like how flexible they are. I can roll them up into a ball so I know she has good flex in them. I also like how versatile they are. She can wear them with jeans or dresses....she even wore them with her Easter dress (and it is a bonus anytime we can get multiple uses out of something).
"Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm."
-Abraham Lincoln-
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