I have to hand it to them.
I find the German people in general to be a people who highly value purpose built things.
We start with shoes.
For the kids' school, we have the following...
House shoes - these are worn as soon as the kids arrive at school. Crocs are technically not allowed, but they are the only house shoe that will fit Ren's hobbit feet, so I'm sticking with it. Otherwise, house shoes are to be fully closable and have an enclosed back. In other words, no flops or slippers.
Indoor sport shoes - these should be clean with no mud or excess dirt on them. I have actually had a pair sent home to be cleaned and returned. Really.
Outdoor sport shoes - for outdoor events. Indoor sport shoes not allowed. We call these regular tennis shoes, but German kids really don't wear sport shoes unless they are actually doing sport.
We just found out from Ada's Kindergarten that she will need house shoes as well as rain boots and snow boots. Fortunately, we're working on house shoes here at our house and then she will take them to Kindergarten.
We normally wear house shoes in the house here in Germany. I didn't do it as much in the US and we don't have a preference for what guests do in our home. I'm not sure why we wear house shoes here, other than it's the norm, but I do find that the dog hair and play-doh and dirt stick to the house shoes and not the bottom of my feet.
(I think I should blog on cleanliness soon...)
Back to shoes, but related to cleanliness. The average German seems to keep their shoes immaculately clean. I'm not sure how this is done, but there we are. Drew remembers his host Dad getting out his cleaning kit each week to polish them. Dirty boots went downstairs to be cleaned with the designated bucket of water and shoe brush. Then polished.
Wow.
Next, style.
Throw those running shoes out the window. Sport shoes are for...sport. At the gym, clearly everyone has their sport shoes and they are ONLY worn for sport. More specifically, for nordic walking, running, spinning, or weight training. They are clean, appear to be new, and in good repair. There are a fair number of people who wear urban sneaker type shoes (think Mr. Rogers style, but made with leather), but no running shoes.
I still wear my old running shoes when I'm working around the house, but try to avoid them when out and about. In the winter, it's too cold for them anyway. Winter boots and/or thick soled shoes are very important in this cold and damp climate. I do, however, live my life with young children and an elderly dog, so I sport my Keens not infrequently so I can be in full mother preparation. I try to save the fancy shoes for date night.
Finally, shoe stores.
There are a fair number of good, quality shoe stores here. Think sales clerks who know their brands and will competently measure a person's foot. Shoes can be expensive, but I have found that quality shoes have been money well spent for us. I remember when Ren was 3 and in Kindergarten, the teachers informed us that he had to have shoes that he could get on and take off himself. I took him to a shoe store where the sales clerk measured his feet.
And promptly told me she had no shoes to fit his feet. Sorry.
Really?
I left a bit dismayed, but felt renewed at hearing of a shoe store going out of business a few towns away. We headed out and I let Ren try on a few pair.
Of course he picked up the ones with blinking lights. I had decided many moons before having children that my children would NOT wear those shoes with blinking lights.
He promptly put them on and walked off. Velcro and all. They were even on sale, of course.
I plopped my money down, swallowed my pride, and said done.
Those shoes happened to be made in Germany. He wore them for a full year, every single day.
I was able to pass them down. Seriously well made shoes.
So I found a brand. Expensive, but it worked. After those shoes, we moved to laces, as full priced European shoes didn't compare price wise with Zappos extra wide fit, and we wanted Ren to learn to actually tie shoes. Very hard to find anything but velcro with European shoes. Why don't they tie? Not sure.
Babies don't really wear shoes, the kicker is when they start to walk. Children learning to walk MUST wear proper shoes with support around the ankle. Germans feel very strongly about this.
So it's easy to spot the American kids running around with Crocs and flip flops. And shorts. And t-shirts.
We're loud, too, but that's another post.
