A word to the wise:

[conuly]

Healthy feet don't smell. Feet smell because they're kept in dark, damp, enclosed spaces. Your hands would smell too if you kept them in gloves all the time!

Healthy feet don't hurt either. Feet only hurt when there is something wrong - often the result of being kept in tight enclosed spaces with no ability to move.

With a small number of exceptions, it is safe to say that bare feet = healthy feet.

Comments

[beccak1961.livejournal.com]

When my children were small I refused to encase their poor little feet in the cast iron shoes that passed for baby shoes. They went barefoot. I heard that their ankles would be weak and their feet would be wide (so?) and my kids have super healthy feet. I love to go barefoot myself, or wear comfy shoes. I save heels for "dress ups" of very short duration. No corns, no hammer toes, nothing here lol

[conuly]

Just the opposite! Your ankles are *stronger* when your feet develop naturally. And feet in shoes aren't normal, they're confined. It's like foot binding, but not as severe.

[beccak1961.livejournal.com]

I agree with you completely. But 20 years ago, in my In-Laws minds and my mom's mind, I was doing something daring and wrong. No one saw bare baby feet, it was like an obsession to stick booties and shoes and stuff on those poor little feet.