Laces vs Velcro and the Dumbing Down of our Kids...

As I was watching our boys get dressed for school this morning, it occurred to me that I am unintentionally helping to “dumb them down”…  It’s as simple as the little tennis shoes they wear every morning… no laces, only Velcro straps. If you are like us, our mornings are so hectic: Getting out of bed, breakfast, making lunches, getting dressed..its just so easy to slip on your shoes with little or no effort.  Oh the revolution  all started with the best of intentions, to help the elderly; Velcro loafers for those who suffer from arthritis and can’t tie laces, but it gravitated on to baby shoes and then kids tennis shoes. Have you shopped for kids shoes lately? It’s all you see, a virtual Velcro forest of shoes…you are hard-pressed to find a good old fashioned pair of lace up tennis shoes.

  I am looking at the boys, and realizing I have never taught them to tie a shoe! What kind of mother am I? What about when they are playing sports and need to a tie a cleat…oh that’s right, those come with Velcro too…

What if they grow up never learning to tie shoes? I can see them on their wedding day, wearing Velcro strapped dress shoes because their parents never took the time to teach them how to tie a lace.

Is this how we start our kids off at such young ages to adapt them to go through life thinking its okay to take the easy way out and not put forth an effort? 

So , this afternoon I am taking a stand against the Velcro invasion, and making a cardboard shoe with an old pair of laces. And upon walking through the front door and slinging backpacks, they will sit with mom and dad and learn a new /old skill:  the lost art of shoe lace tying.......