What is With the Shoes?

I finally broke down and went to the Flylady website after seeing a comment about someone commenting on facebook about having their sink shining, and shoes on.

What is with the shoes????

Flylady makes a big deal about wearing shoes.. not just any shoes, but lace up shoes. If you go here you can read about it.

I would like to humbly disagree with her reasonings. I am a big fan of NOT wearing shoes! I don't believe they do anything for me as far as wearing them in my house. My attitude does not change one iota. Now getting dressed.. that is a different story.

Flylady says:

The reason behind this duty was that you act different when you have clothes and shoes on. You are more professional. The customer can tell when you don't feel good about the way you look.

Definately. But my family aren't "customers". I am certainly not getting paid, or even tipped, unless I find change in the washer while doing laundry. My family members are not strangers I am selling goods or service to. What I do for them is a labor of love. I give of my time and energy and effort because I love them. I like to wear what is according to the day's chores. If I am deep cleaning and using bleach, no way I am dressing up for that. I have this malady that whenever I use anything with bleach in it I always get bleach spots on my cloths, even if I am wearing an apron. I'm not dressing up for that, sorry. Honestly, the kids don't care what I look like as long as they get fed. :)

She also states:

Putting shoes on your feet that lace up are better than slip-ons or sandals, because they are harder to take off. Instead of kicking your shoes off for a quick snooze on the couch, you actually have to go to a bit more trouble.

Well, call me lazy, but if I have a chance to lay down I am going to. Not that I do anymore, but my Dh has told me over and over again, don't be afraid to take a rest. Having 6 out of 7 kids homeschooling, the youngest being a baby, is wearing, and there is nothing wrong whatsoever with taking care of yourself!

Also in her article:

I see this problem more in the SAHM (Stay At Home Moms) because often they don't have to leave the house and it is not necessary to get dressed every morning

Hey, I resemble that remark!

Just kidding... that is SO not true! I am dressed every morning, unless I am sick or just given birth. I think this is a comment that is a little backhanded. I personally don't know of any SAHM's in real life that laze around in their pj's all day.

Finally:

I don't want to hear, "Well I don't wear shoes in my house". Well you do now, sister! Buy or clean up a pair just for that reason. It's not going to be that you track in the dirt anyway. You are still boss and you can require your children to remove their shoes. What is the problem here? In most homes you have had trouble even finding the floor, much less keeping the carpet clean. Do you even know what color it is supposed to be? And when you vacuum once or twice a week the dirt goes away. Teach your children to not track in stuff. Have a mat outside the door for them to remove unwanted dirt and mud. I bet you have 10 pairs of shoes at the door right now. What does that do to your vacuuming schedule? Make the kids take their shoes outside to clean them up and then take the shoes to their rooms. If they had to pay for those expensive tennis shoes they would take better care of them.

Well, no I don't wear shoes in our house, nor do I allow the children to. For us, everyone wearing shoes in the house is a pain. It adds more dirt to our carpets. We already vacuum twice a week. I like clean floors, especially with Isaac rolling around everywhere. We have an area in the entranceway closet for putting shoes when they come in the house. And yes, they are supposed to wipe their feet coming in, but mats don't always do a good job. I prefer them in the closet, thankyouverymuch.

No, I'm not going to spend money on another pair of shoes that I don't want or need.

Our kids don't wear expensive shoes.. we get them at yard sales or Thrift stores.

Oh, and my carpet is a light brown color. :)

On the other hand... I love her little steps that she has listed for starting out. However, I have issue with the whole system, because it doesn't allow for nursing mothers, or homeschooling, as far as I can tell. She assumes the children "go to school". As any homeschooler knows, there is more to our days than shining up sinks, and wearing nice clothes, doing our hair, and wearing lace up shoes.

Okay.. enough of the soapbox. I'm going to walk over to the couch in my bare feet and take a nap.

.

My motto:

Cleaning and Scrubbing can wait till tomorrow,
For babies grow up we learn to our sorrow,
So quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep,
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.