same her... we spent a fortune of shoes.. to make sure there feet grew well... and coats... didn't matter how broke we were 9 at time we were on the breadline) but they all had new coats and new shoes... especially important for the Winter.

I still have good feet, as they are smallish and broad... I still only buy good shoes that actually fit me - I don't do shoes that pinch! As a kid I had to wear boys Tuff shoes; my feet mine were too 'broad' (fat) for girls shoes in the 60's...as I was a 'tom boy' I didn't mind to much. My small and pretty sister had her feet dressed/squashed into the most delightful red/ black/ shiney/patent fashion shoes.. which damaged her feet so badly that she had to have her little toe amputated! though as a teen that meant that she could wear vintage shoes!

I still want a pair of red shoes... though I have not bought any yet .. I wonder why?

My feet are in pretty good shape, so I think there's something to be said for my mother's policy.

My kids seem to have done all right too. They're a pretty active set of people. One of my sons spends his spare time exploring ruined buildings in Japan- and I reckon you need good feet for that.

I remember those X-ray machines, I used to find them fascinating. Did I get to put my foot in one? `m sure that would have been very exciting.

And thanks for the foot care! My feet seem to be pretty solid, though I do occasionaly wonder at my big toes. Some people`s big toes can bend right back, so they`re perpendicular to the foot. Useful when squatting down, crawling, doing barefoot karate or ju-jitsu or something. My toes though don`t bend back at all.

Do yours? I`ve had trouble with it in karate a few times- whenever I had to do front kicks using the front pad of the sole of the foot. I would often just kick the pad painfully with my toes, because they couldn`t pull back out of the way. Ouch.

I thought those machines had disappeared before your time, but perhaps not. If they were still around I'm sure you'd have stuck your foot in one.

My big toes don't bend either. Otherwise they're in pretty good shape. I broke one once by dropping a metal bedframe on it (quite possibly your bed frame!) and it aches a bit in the cold.

I wasn't the full time carer, but I had them every weekend and for much of the holidays- so she was taking on quite a lot.

yeah (sorry that was me, I deleted the comment because I thought maybe it was too overly personal about a situation that everyone was happy with). Every person who takes on a partner with children has a tough row to hoe. I respect people who do that.

That's OK. I didn't find it intrusive.

Before I met Ailz i was in a relationship with a woman with two daughters of her own. We tried to merge the two families and that really, really didn't work.

I was terrified of those machines.
My children had the huge advantage of kind grandparents who not only spared me the chore of "fittings" but paid for the shoes too - not a small expense at the time when they grow out of them so fast

My parents helped out with their grandchildren's school clothing too.

My feet were wrecked by a pair of Very Expensive Clarks Kidproof shoes that my mum got me.

Oh dear.

What was wrong with them? Did the assistant not measure your feet first?

If I remember right, everything was done correctly. But the shoes were ever so slightly too narrow at the toe. It was the kind of narrowness that you'd normally shrug aside and say, 'they'll be fine once they've been broken in'. But, because the leather was specially treated, they never softened.

I've since had similar problems with hiking boots. But these days, the helpful fitters instruct you on the importance of wearing a bigger toe box with thicker socks. End of problems! My latest set of Brashers have made hill-walking an absolute joy...

That sounds like the work of a sales assistant who didn't entirely know their business.

I'm currently wearing a pair of very cheap ankle length boots. I can't say I expected a great deal of them, but they got me to the top of a (very small) mountain in France.

*nodnodnod* I remember those machines. I loved them and was very unhappy when they disappeared. I didn't know any better, of course.

I was taught not to skimp on shoes either, and I don't. I have birth defects in my feet, including missing bones, and good shoes are an absolute must if I'm to walk at all. Since we don't drive, and even the bus is a mile away, I have to walk a lot. Luckily I have to wear men's walking shoes or light boots due to the oddities of my feet, and though spendy they tend to be decent quality (where most US women's shoes are crap, to put it mildly). A pair will last me a year, or longer if they can be resoled. So I buy good shoes and ignore the total when the clerk rings up the sale.

I used to walk everywhere, but then we got a car and I've grown lazy. I've grown less careful about shoes too. When I'm at home I wear slippers. Ailz shouts at me for not picking my feet up properly and sort of slip-sliding around the house.

LOL! Yeah, my mother used to yell at me for dragging my feet when I was a kid, because I fell a lot as a result, except in my case it was heavy orthopedic shoes that made me drag my feet.

That must have been harsh- having to wear those heavy shoes as a child.

Ailz hates the sound I make with my flapping slippers. I rather like it.

I hated it. They had steel wedges in the soles and were heavy and noisy. I had to wear them from when I got out of bed in the morning to when I got back into bed at night. On the other hand, if not for those shoes I wouldn't have been able to walk at all.

Funny how a sound can appeal to one person and upset another.

Ailz is noise sensitive. All sorts of things I barely notice annoy her and get on her nerves.

If you are in the UK, do you know that there are circumstances in which you can obtain shoes free of charge through an NHS orthotics department?
I found out about this after breaking several bones.
It involves referral by a GP, if you aren't already getting orthotic advice

That's worth knowing. I'll pass it on to Ailz.

Thank you, that's very kind of you. Alas, I am in the US, where there aren't any options of that kind. Good to know about the UK, though, as I see Ailz will likely benefit from your advice, and I'll keep it filed mentally in case any of my other British friends might need it.

I have always been a firm believer in good shoes, the best we could afford for our kids...and for ourselves as well. The feet bear the whole body's weight and along with the knees are the most abused parts of our bodies (as far as use goes).

Yes. If you mess up your feet when you're a child there's really no going back.

I spent most of my childhood shoeless. Even asphalt and ice couldn't convince me they were worth it. Shoes and seams and clothing tags--they drive me equally crazy.

I went shoeless for a while during my student days. I seem to remember walking barefoot through the snow, but did I really, or am I making it up?