Squeaky Shoes: ARRGHH!

This article appeared today in the Louisville Courier-Journal today. Written by Joseph Gerth, himself the father to a Chinese daughter, it extols the virtues of "squeaky shoes", the children's footwear that's popular in the Chinese adoption community. The idea is that every time the child steps, air is forced through a membrane that produces a squeaking sound.

Sounds cute you say? Try repeating it 100,000 times and see how cute you think it is! Naturally, we had to buy Ally a few pairs of these shoes, thinking how adorable it will be when we learned to walk, squeaking her way about the house.

Well, not so much. It didn't take long to realize how irritating the noise was repeated hundreds of times in a row. And forget about going out in public with these things. With the exception of the playground, there are very few places where "squeaky shoes" are socially acceptable.

I would say the only people who think these shoes are cute are the kids themselves. Mr. Gerth may have a point in that they might encourage children to walk. Trouble is, they also encourage parents to pull their hair out.

If you're thinking of getting these for your little one, go ahead and get one pair, for the novelty if for nothing else. But don't expect you're going to want your kid wearing these until they're in kindergarten. We actually bought three pair for Ally and ended up taking the "squeakers" out when she learned to walk.