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Toddlers: 12 - 24 Months
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Please Remove Your Shoes
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We don't wear shoes in our home for a number of resons (makes it easier for me to keep floors clean, reduces toxins that are tracked in (fertilizers, bug exterminator, public restrooms,). Our baby crawls around eating anything tracked in. And to protect our new refinished floors. I hate asking people to take their shoes off. It is so uncomfortable for me because my mom acted like it is the rudest thing a person can do (I also have shoe covers and airplane socks available for people who have cold feet or don't want to remove their shoes. (then again she refused to wash her hands before holding my son even just days out of the NiCU. In fact she chose not to see and hold him on one day because imtold h shemwould have to wash her hands in the clean room before going in and she insisted she used her purell just a few minutes ago- as I explained the nurses are watching you and protocol must be followed since babies's lives are at risk.
Someone was telling me they use a sign outside of their door- maybe this is better. I think it is probably less awkward for both the guest and the homeowner if it is on a sign than having to be told. What do you think?
How big should the sign be? Where should it be located? What should it say?
This is a variety of songs from Amazon
. I treed putting shoes on the porch, didn't work. I pit a bench with three baskets filled with our shoes under it right when you open the door but still pele don't pick up on it. Thank you for the help.
Our house is deep forest green with beige accents. It is a very forest cabin sort of a vibe spite being ten minutes fr the beach.
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Re: Please Remove Your Shoes
We do not wear shoes in our house. Yet, I would never ask a guest to take off his shoes. I just sweep/mop after they leave. In spite of my own practice, I am very uncomfortable when others insist I take mine off in their home - it really is rude. I do generally offer, but being told to do so bothers me, since I am choosing not to for a reason. Worse still, I get so angry when these same people who have me walk barefoot on their dirty floors just traipse into my living room with their grubby shoes. But, guests mean good company, and washing the tea cups and a quick sweep of the floor comes with the territory.
Definitely regional. I'm from the East coast of Canada, and no one ever leaves their shoes on when they enter the house. It would be considered rude to leave them on.
Now I live in the SE U.S., and no one takes them off. I took my shoes off in people's homes for almost a year after I moved here before someone pointed it out to me. I guess I'm not very observant.
Anyway, I think a sign is ruder than just asking. If it's an issue, like some other said, just sweep/vacuum after they leave.
I lived on LI NY before Fl and well up there, my parents were the only ones that NEVER wore shoes in the house....my family members and friends ALWAYS kept their shoes on in their home.
When we moved to FL its been a mixture....we NEVER wear shoes in the house...we had mostly carpet and hated when I had a guest who didn't remove their shoes... but would NEVER ask them to. If they did, that was GREAT but never asked them. I found it rude to do.
I have since changed the main living area from carpet to tile and LOVE it...now I don't have to worry about the dirt etc. So easy to clean.
We had to do this due to my dd allergies.....but that was a great side benefit of the new floors.
Anyway, I do find it very rude to ask someone to remove their shoes. I would find it very uncomfy to do so (if that is not what I was used to).
Logan 10/20/2010 ~ Addison 8/26/2014
Apparently it is regional because it would be rude and no - no one is walking their grubby who knows where they have been shoes on my carpet. They dont have to take them off outside on the porch but in the mud room yes.
For the most part, most people automatically take their shoes off when they come into my house. But if they don't, it's not a big deal because we mostly have hardwoods and it's easy enough to clean up. A lot of people that just "drop by", though, are only in our kitchen (first room you walk into), and I usually sweep/mop it almost every day as it is so if they want to leave their shoes on, that's fine.
I guess if I had really nice, new carpeting, I would certainly ask people to take off their shoes, or if it was rainy/muddy/snowy out, I think I would ask then, as well.
I think the sign is a good idea if you aren't comfortable asking outright. I don't think it's rude tobask people to take off their shoes when they come in, either.
DS2 - Oct 2010 (my VBAC baby!)
I don't want ppl to take their shoes off in my house b/c they get too comfortable. I already have a hard time asking ppl to leave when they have outstayed their welcome.
I have no problem if someone were to ask me to take off my shoes. A sign is just weird, tho. It definitely a regional thing.
I think it's a little much to say that wearing shoes in a house is gross. Also, you're kidding yourself if you think that taking shoes off makes your feet germ/dirt free. Unless your shoes encase your entire foot, there are likely still germs/dirt on your socks or bare feet.
We wear shoes in the house. I would never ask anyone to remove their shoes and I've never been asked to remove my shoes. Sometimes at close friends/family's houses I have removed my shoes but it is more for my comfort than anything else. I would feel really uncomfortable being asked to remove my shoes in someone else's home.
I only wear slippers in the house. We have a mud room and everyone in our family takes their shoes off when they come in. Guests I do not ask this of.
When DD was little and crawling we did ask people to take off their shoes though. Now that she is older it's no big deal. However, I make it a rule for the family since we make the majority of the traffic in our home.
The reason I started the no shoe rule when she was crawling is because someone tracked dog poop into my house & guess who ate some?
Even the etiquette experts can't agree on this one though:
https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Consumer/story?id=5177409&page=1
bfp#4 3/19/2014 edd 12/1/2014 please let this be the one!
beta @ 5w0d = 12,026! u/s 4/22/14 @ 8w1d it's twins!
No, wet/muddy shoes would of course need to be removed. I am talking everyday shoe wear. I'm not too worried about any stray gravel or debris. And again I think people are kidding themselves thinking that taking off shoes means no germs/dirt on the floor.
I just think it's a silly rule and I wouldn't want to take my shoes off every time I brought my kid in. Deter was probably a bad choice of words but I would definitely add it to the con list.This. Although, I don't know if it's regional as much as a product of upbringing. I've lived in New York, Florida and Virginia and never encountered this dire shoe dilemma. If I invite a guest over, I'll happily sweep/mop the floors if necessary. I also don't require them to use toilet seat covers if they use the restroom or wash out their own wine glass. Because they're guests and all.
LOL
I always love the ol' shoe debate!
We have a dog. Who wears her feet all the time - inside and outside. So I don't worry much about shoes in my house.
We wear them sometimes. Most of the time we don't, but that's for comfort. I have never, and would never, ask someone to take off their shoes. In fact, I often tell people not to worry about it.
We have hardwood floors, they're fine (they're 59 years old though). No one in my house has yet been poisoned by someone wearing shoes in, to my knowledge.
I also let my kids run around barefoot in the yard.
Haha good to know. Consider me unclenched.
I think this is a touch rude. I have lived in New England, Pennsylvania, and now San Diego and I have never been asked to take off my shoes when entering someone's home. That being said, I would especially think it rude if you invited me to a party and then asked me to take off my shoes - I wouldn't think you could comfortably ask 20+ people to take off their shoes. However, if you invited my family and I over for dinner or we just stopped by unexpected (which I also think is a little rude), then I wouldn't be offended if you asked me to take off my shoes.
I would just address it on a case by case basis and I agree with other PPs that you should just clean after guests leave if it bothers you that much.
I understand having your own family and close friends do it, but I do think it is rude to ask someone visiting or delivering. My husband delivers furniture and it is dangerous for them to wear the booties, because they may slip. He has to tell people all the time that it is against their policies. He will swiffer and clean their floor afterwards if it is that big of a deal, but it is kind of rude in my eyes. I also think it could be embarrassing for some people, especially if their feet stink.
Also, a friend of mine was telling me a story about her brother this weekend. He's a woodstove installer, had a 500 lb woodstove to bring into a house, and the homeowner asked him to remove his shoes.
1. She expected him to stop, put the stove down, remove his shoes, then re-start the momentum?
2. Who TF would want to risk moving an item that large with no shoes?!? He wears steel toed boots for a reason.
He refused, and told her he could lay down paper for a trail, but that he needed his shoes for safety.
I was waiting for someone to bring up pets. I agree, what's the point since they can't take off their shoes. I guess those without dogs feel differently though.
People usually take off their shoes if it is muddy/snowy, but it is usually done on their own (i.e., we don't ask/tell them).
I do have a question for the "non-shoe" people - what about in the summer? You are okay with a bunch of people traipsing around your house bare foot (assuming they are wearing sandals and therefore no socks)? Ick.
This is just weird to me in general, though. Just use a wet swiffer or vacuum when your guests leave - are they really walking through gum and dog-poo filled streets to get to your house?
I live in Central Ontario. Everyone kicks off their shoes when they walk in a home. You don't have to ask.
Kids learn very early that shoes comes off when they come in. Schools and daycares require kids to have indoor shoes on when they are inside.
I don't think about it, it is not a debate.
We have a condo in Florida that we rent out (short term rentals). Tile floors in main part, carpet in the bedrooms. The floors get mopped and vacuumed weekly and twice a year they are deep cleaned (both tiles and carpets). The floors are FILTHY. They look clean, but if you walk around in white socks (which is what I do when I am there) my sock bottoms turn very dirty and dark within a short period of time.
At home, the floors (hardwood, carpet, tile) get swept, vacuumed about once every two weeks. I'll wipe down the areas around where the kids eat as needed. No deep clean to date in this house. You can walk around with white socks on all day long and never see a mark on your socks.
I'm no germaphobe (far from it) but wearing shoes inside the home makes the floors dirtier. Fact.
Shrug.
I know it does, I just don't care about it enough to make guests uncomfortable. A dirty floor, which is cleaned fairly regularly (I'm not perfect, yo!) is just not high on my list of concerns.