No shoes.....Please!

OK, so this blog may not be directly about Owen but I thought it was good knowledge for all new mommies and guests in homes with children.

Now I was not brought up in a house where we were to take our shoes off...shame on you mother (totally kidding). But more and more was I walking into homes where you were to take your shoes off. At first I found it quite annoying to be honest. But then I totally got the hang of it and now we have chosen to jump on the bandwagon and be a no shoe wearing home. Andy still yells at me when I forget. But hello I do have "mommy brain", so i need a reminder. So I started searching the Internet for cute signs we could put by the door for not only me but as a nice reminder that we would like our guests to take their shoes off. While doing this I found tons of blogs dedicated to this "no shoes rule". It is very interesting the issues people have and also the disgusting fact of the things that get tracked thorough your home. Now that we have a little mover crawling through the home we have these things to worry about.

Here is an insert from one of the blogs I enjoy reading Mommy Goes Green.
"Years ago, I found it annoying to go to someones house and have to remove my shoes. Now, it’s the rule in my house and I almost feel weird wearing shoes in other people’s houses. If you haven’t yet crossed over to a shoe free house, you might reconsider.

Recently, the New York Daily News did a test of two pairs of flip flops worn around New York City. Pair #1 went through bars, a park, rode subway trains and a roller coaster. Pair #2 went into a public restroom in a subway station. Pair #2 had almost 14,000 more bacteria than pair #1 (and traveled far less!).

Not only does this make you rethink your public restroom visits but why would you bring all this bacteria into your home? I have found that I do FAR less sweeping of our hardwood floors since we went totally shoe free.

Dr. Philip M. Tierno Jr., director of clinical microbiology and immunology at New York University’s Langone Medical Center, said that for shoes worn for 3 months over a summer, 93% have fecal bacteria on them and 20% have E. coli. Translate that to wearing your shoes in your house, leave some ‘fecal matter’ around and having your toddler eat a dropped grape off your floor. I’m cringing.

One other thought – if you have any open cuts or blisters on your feet – stay away from flip flops! You can pick up a serious infection from all the yucky germs floating around on the ground."


So next time you enter house it is always nice to ask if you should remove your shoes.