Shoes

I have two young children. There is one thing that I have learned through the years that you just should not skimp on – their shoes. I have bought them cheap shoes thinking that they will wear them out so quickly that I might as well save my money. But now, I know the importance of comfortable kids shoes.

I recently bought my son a pair of cheap sneakers for gym class and he came home with blisters that caused him a lot more pain than they should have. But it’s so hard to justify buying a $60 pair of shoes that are only going to be pulled out of a locker two or three times a week.

Something similar happened to my daughter and a pair of cute sandals that I thought would look adorable on her… and they did – but again more foot pain!

So, I started to research the importance of kids shoes. They do more than just protect their feet from the elements. They support their feet and in the early years, help their feet to grow and form properly. The wrong pair of shoes can have long lasting effects. I have also found that comfortable kids shoes create a lot less arguments when it comes time for my kids to put their shoes on – they do not dread it any more, but they actually want to put them on!

Let’s move on to older kids.  My sister has kids in middle school and high school:  ages 11, 12, and 15 – and all boys.  They’re all in sports, so as each sports season arrives, it’s $40-$70 apiece for shoes.  That’s in addition to the shoes they want to wear to school.  And of course – they need to be “cool”.   She’s had great luck finding casual shoes at local discounters such as Shoe Carnival.  Once in a while, she forwards me a deal from Zappos or DicksSportingGoods.

My advice:  subscribe to those online sites’ newsletters, set up alerts to be sent to your email when sales begin, or just get on our ComfortableFoot newsletter to be notified when major retailers offer discounts or coupon codes.