Shoes in the house

This is kind of a personal survey. I'd like to know how many of you grew up with a strict "no wearing shoes in the house" policy. No one in my immediate family on either my mother's side or father's side ever made a big deal of it, even the truly farm folk. The farm folk had the men take off their work boots on the porch before coming in, but that was it.

Of course if it was rainy or muddy or snowy, you took off your wet stuff pretty quickly  when entering the house. If it was a regular dry day, you just came and went with your shoes on.

My SO is a freak about taking off your shoes immediately upon entering. Since I'm the rebellious type anyways, this just makes me want to keep my shoes on even more.

 

we never had any rules about it

I lived in Japan, so it feels natural for me to take my shoes off.  However, if the floors aren't keep really clean (i.e., so that things don't stick to your feet!) then I feel it's just fine to keep shoes on.

I have all hardwood floors, so there tend to be some crumbs or dust bunnies.

And, when Japanese friends visit my house, I urge them to keep their shoes on for warmth and cleanliness of their own feet.

Make a deal with your SO that if they clean the floor (vacuum or sweep & dustmop) on a _daily_ basis, you will take your shoes off *grin*

They don't like, eat in bed or something even more icky, do they?..... *doublegrin*

my family wasn't strict about anything.  i've become more compusive about cleanliness as i've aged, and almost always take my shoes off at the front door, but if i have my shoes on and am on my way out and need something in the kitchen, or if we're barbecuing or having a bonfire and going in and out, i don't worry about it.

i've heard, though, that it makes a big difference to the bacterial count in your house.  it might be seem clean and dry outside, but you never really know what's on your shoes (well - that's not true.  you do know what's on your shoes - you just wish you didn't).

We always had a place to take off especially wet or dirty shoes before coming into the main part of the house.

But no, we never had any rules. 

Nope, we never have had a shoes-in-the-house rule. When we got the new carpet, there was a short lived "no shoes on the new carpet" rule.

We never had any rule about it, but it was something we usually just did.  I don't really feel relaxed until I've kicked off my shoes and I don't like tracking the dirt from the outside world all over the place so I take mine off at the door usually.

I take my shoes off.  It is just a germ thing.  Outside shoes and inside slippers.

We didn't have any rules about it when I was growing up, but I have a rule about it now.  I have beige carpets all over my house, so that's part of it.  The only shoes I wear in the house are my aerobics shoes, and they've never been worn outside.  I've worn my shoes inside in houses with hardwood floors, though.  They do get kind of sticky, especially in the kitchen.

I go barefoot in the house most of the time, but that is personal choice - not a rule. My family were the same growing up; we'd spend more time outside barefoot than inside with shoes on for sure, and my Dad took off his work boots at the door, but there were never set rules about it.

Count yourself lucky though, I have a friend who's girlfriend is such a germ-a-phobe that if he has caught public transit, she forces him to take off his clothes at the front door and put them in the washing machine right away, then shower and change into "inside clothes". I'm sure she would have a conniption in my house, which is mostly dirty, most of the time.

My family has a rule about now shoes in the house.  As soon as you stepped through the door you took them off.  Now it's become a habit, I do it at everyone's house.

My parents tried to implement the 'no shoes in the house' rule but my mom and sister never did it. It was a habit for me to take my shoes off at the front door because I hate wearing shoes. Now that I live in Korea, it's second-nature. NO ONE wears shoes in the house... they either wear slippers or go barefoot.

no rule, per se, but I prefer to take my shoes off when inside and do so almost immediately upon entering.  It does help keep things cleaner.

Oh, but there is a strict rule about wet, snowy or muddy shoes.

I went barefoot as a kid. (oh those bee stings)  Had hot feet when older so never wore shoes in the house.  But it isn't appealing to many ppl, so when I have company I wear slippers or something.  I don't even like to see other ppl barefoot at home.

Now it's just more comfortable for me.  My feet are happier not stuffed into shoes :)  Winter I wear footies.

We take off our shoes at the door, as does pretty much everyone we know. We have snow more than half the year (meaning there's salt and slush on the boots, which you DON'T want in the house) so it probably comes from that.

The hubby and I live in a country where EVERYONE takes their shoes off at EVERY home.  It took some time getting used  to, but I feel like I've adopted the habit.  When we go back to California, I'm sure I'll feel the need to take my shoes off everywhere and have the rule at home. I wonder though.... 

How do non-shoe-taker-offers feel about going to peoples homes with the rule?? Any opinions?

My mom insisted we take off our shoes when I was growing up. She was really anal about it. If we came in with them on, she would throw a fit. When I had friends visit, I had to warn them ahead of time so they knew to take of their shoes!

Me? Now that I have my own home I wear my shoes almost all the time inside. :)

i have a dog, who unfortunately cannot remove his muddy gross paws before he comes in the house. he also doesn't enjoy having his feet wiped off, and truthfully, i just can't be bothered every time he comes in from outside. 

my floors tend to get dirty really fast, so i don't make a big deal about shoes in the house. i usually change into slippers though, just cause they are more comfortable!   

Growing up it was a rule to wear shoes in the house because usually somewhere a floor was still being installed or there wasn't a floor yet.  Wherever there was a floor that had already been installed nails and extra screws were kept on it, and they were rough-finish floors so you always had the risk of something pokin' you.

Since we had all (except the living room and balcony entrance way) floors installed and commercial tile laid down, you're free to go bare foot if you'd like.  I still wear shoes 'cause I've seen my mom's feet during the summer.  They turn black and it takes a winter of wearing socks for them to look her skin colour again.  She never wears shoes, inside or outside.

;-;  I fear my feet looking like hers...

haha CD, my feet used to look like that in the summer when i was a kid. i grew up near a lake and my friend and i went barefoot pretty much ALL the time. we used to see who could stand on the hot tar longer to toughen them up. they'd be like leather by the end of august :)

in the winter i wear shoes because my feet get cold. but otherwise i don't. the only shoe rule my mother has is to not leave them in the entryway.