My children live on the floor. It doesn’t matter if we are in the living room, kitchen, or bedroom. My kids constantly stretching out on the floor to play, read, or watch tv. That has always bothered me and forced me to constantly say, “get up off that nasty floor!” mostly after they had already had their nightly baths and pj’s on. Technically the floors were never “nasty” because I try to stick to a reasonable cleaning routine . However, it still bothered me to see them all stretched out on the floors. The floors that now have the same germs from the shoes were worn into the pee-pee floors from public restrooms. I know that I can’t protect them from all germs, but we can live comfortably in our own home right?
My husband is a General Contractor and he goes into some really yucky places with his work boots. It always bothered me knowing that those germs were coming into our home via the bottom of his boots. I pointed out his daily dirt trails in our bedroom carpet and other places in our house. He stopped wearing them in our house. I made the suggestion for us to try going shoeless in the house for a weekend. This meant that we would only put on and remove our shoes at the door.
Product and Image Courtesy of Pixie Dust Louisville
It took some getting used to and of course, we forgot a few times. I did purchase a shoe tray for each door in our home. It helps to keep the doorway a little neater. We were familiar with removing our shoes on rainy days. Now it was just getting into the routine of doing it all the time. My son was the first to say that he loved the “no shoes” life in our home. That made me happy! After a few days of going shoeless in our home, it was time to clean the carpets. Now we would have a fresh start. I decided to add a basket by the door filled with socks and shoe covers for visitors. So far, I’ve only had a few eye rolls. It’s our home and we have a right to live how we want.
I was surprised to discover that a few people we know have the same “no shoe” rule in their homes. Some of their reasons for having a shoe-free home was because they wanted to keep their floors and carpets clean. Others had shoe free homes because of their immune system. I didn’t know that wearing shoes in our home could negatively affect our health or immune system. I always believed and kind of still do, that a few germs are necessary to build up a healthy immune system. However, I was not shocked when this clip from The Today Show revealed just how nasty our shoes are and supports our efforts for going shoe-free at home.
Shortly after we became a shoe-free home we were invited to a friends house. Surprisingly their home was also shoe-free. I’ll admit that it kind of reassured me that I am still a normal mom and wife with just a preference on how I want things in our home. I don’t care about cleaning. It’s actually therapeutic for me sometimes. I know that we have made the right choice for now. Going shoeless in your home may not be the right choice for you, but if you are considering it here are a few ways to get started today.
Well….I have pretty much always lived in a shoe free house myself, and I don’t know it just feels right 😊
Man doesn’t it?! It does just feel right and especially after a long day. I feel free from the outside crap immediately. 😄
Haha, could not agree with you more! 😊😊
I have had this same conversation with my daughter. I have been trying to make us a “shoe free” home and they keep forgetting. I keep fussing as their like, “we can’t change overnight “. I have always wanted to do it because I go through so many Clorox wet mops trying to kill germs. Now the same child opted for carpet rather than laminate floor when we had them redone and she is quick to tell us to take out shoes of before we enter her room. I’m still trying to get my family to catch on to the rest of the house. I feel like they need a visual so I’m going to call a family meeting and show them a video of all the nasty germs and bacteria from all the nasty places we go in our shoes. I will also let them read this. Thank you so much for sharing!
If she can remember her room she can remember the other doors too it’s just going to take a ton of reminding as soon as you get out of the car. Start sounding like a broken record…you know sweet, but broken 😆. I still have to remind Mariyah because she comes in running. A weekend crash course will help. I think grocery day as been the hardest. Thankfully my kitchen entryway is small, so I can sit everything down at the door and spin right around and still be at the door.
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Well….I have pretty much always lived in a shoe free house myself, and I don’t know it just feels right 😊
Man doesn’t it?! It does just feel right and especially after a long day. I feel free from the outside crap immediately. 😄
Haha, could not agree with you more! 😊😊
I have had this same conversation with my daughter. I have been trying to make us a “shoe free” home and they keep forgetting. I keep fussing as their like, “we can’t change overnight “. I have always wanted to do it because I go through so many Clorox wet mops trying to kill germs. Now the same child opted for carpet rather than laminate floor when we had them redone and she is quick to tell us to take out shoes of before we enter her room. I’m still trying to get my family to catch on to the rest of the house. I feel like they need a visual so I’m going to call a family meeting and show them a video of all the nasty germs and bacteria from all the nasty places we go in our shoes. I will also let them read this. Thank you so much for sharing!
If she can remember her room she can remember the other doors too it’s just going to take a ton of reminding as soon as you get out of the car. Start sounding like a broken record…you know sweet, but broken 😆. I still have to remind Mariyah because she comes in running. A weekend crash course will help. I think grocery day as been the hardest. Thankfully my kitchen entryway is small, so I can sit everything down at the door and spin right around and still be at the door.