Sand in Shoes - Is anyone else tired of it?

[bnjjohnson]

I am wondering if anyone else out there is tired of the sand in their kid's shoes after coming home from school.

My daughter is in kindergarten and their playgrounds all have sand. Every day after she comes home I feel like I dump 1/2 a cup of sand out of her shoes. No matter how much I shake them out or bang them together, they STILL have sand in them and have that sandy coating all over.

Does anyone have any tricks they use to minimize the sand? Or just want to vent with me? LOL

[ChetMC]

Surface Material

I don't think there is any ideal surface material for playgrounds...

- sand is messy and gets in everything.

- kids throw pea gravel and it also tends to get tracked around.

- rubber surface is hot, and it can be unstable leading to twisted ankles and things, plus it's expensive.

- bark mulch needs to be replenished regularly, and supposedly it's a great habitat for bugs, though that was what most of the playgrounds had when we lived in Seattle and i think i liked it the best, I assume it was cedar mulch to deter the bugs, but not every city has access to lots of cedar tree.

[crl]

I'll vent with you. We have sand not only from playgrounds, but also from the beach (live close enough to walk). I make DS take his shoes off outside and they live out there on some shelves by our front door. At least it minimizes the sand in the house. (Although some days it's also all in his pockets when he comes home from school--I guess he puts it in there?)

Catherine

[limabean]

DS dumps his shoes out before getting in the car.

[LynnS6]

I've just become accustomed to living a life with an undercoating of sand everywhere! Dd brings it home from the sandbox at daycare by the bucketful, as far as I can tell.

For beach sand, I know that people recommend putting powder on your body before brushing off the sand. I wonder if that would work for sand in shoes? And I don't remember what kind of powder either.

[Hoopin' Mama]

Our problem is sand in the pockets. I don't know what that child is doing in the play yard, but turn his pants upside down on any given day and a good amount of sand falls out.

Of course, I forget ALL the time. I pick up his pants off the floor and out is pours. I feel better after I curse under my breath.

[mbbinsc]

Reminds me of when my DS was around 4. He would come home from his Montesorri preschool with so much sand and rocks in his shoes. His socks were so dirty. I never could figure out why, until I showed up early one day. He was using his shoe as a shovel! They did not have enough for everyone, so rather than wait he would take off his shoes and happily dig away.

[limabean]

Ha -- cute stories!

For some reason my DS's shirts always seem to turn up at the hem, and oftentimes even though I have him dump his shoes, I'll go to help him change into his PJs at night and sand will trickle out of his shirt hem.

[bestjob]

"I feel better after I curse under my breath."

I believe that is the only real solution.

[eepster]

The sand in the shoes doesn't bug me nearly as much as the sand in the underwear. DS also regularly comes home with large amounts of mulch in his hair, pocket, the hood of his sweater, etc.

[mommajb]

The sand in the hair on a sweaty kiddo is yucky.

My kids don't leave their shoes on so they empty before coming in except for my 1 yo. He fusses for me take off his shoes and clean his feet if there is any sand in his shoes. Then he wants them back on so he can take two steps in the sand and repeat the procdure. I don't want to just take off the shoes because it is safer and he doesn't like anything stuck to his feet. You should see his dismay after crossing my kitchen floor.

[mazajo]

The sand in the shoes doesn't bug me nearly as much as the sand in the underwear.

I feel better after I curse under my breath.

This thread is hilarious!

I just always empty DS's shoes and brush him off on the porch before we come in. We have a sand box in our backyard.

This is one of those little things that might be annoying right now but some day we will look back on it with a smile and miss it!

[karne]

The sand and dirt on/in everything is one reason we're going to be using an out door shower this summer. It's sand in the bedsheets that drives me crazy! My plan is that the kids will quickly shower outside and then hop inside, hopefully eliminating the sand!

[lucyem]

I cannot count the number of times my DS pulls off his boots and dumps the sand onto the car seats. : Though to be honest school is not the issue. The sand box in the back yard is. We have a new rule - no shoes allowed in the house. We have an enclosed porch and all kid shoes stay there. That at least keeps the sand somewhat contained. As I go vacuum this mornings sand pile off my kitchen floor......

[meemee]

well i have to blame myself for this.

summer is here. my 'fish' is way excited. we swim in the river instead of having to pay $4 to use the public pools.

so yup i have to deal with the sand at least 5 times a week. sticky wet sand. in the bath tub. EVERYWHERE!!!!

i think out of everything i hate dealing with the bathtub.

HOWEVER...

i am hoping the river water will not affect my dd's hair as the chlorine water did last year.

so sand still here. but in a different manner.

oh yeah - hard wood floors and no matter how much dusting off - still have to sweep to get the sand off.

[limabean]

Originally Posted by meemee

well i have to blame myself for this.

summer is here. my 'fish' is way excited. we swim in the river instead of having to pay $4 to use the public pools.

so yup i have to deal with the sand at least 5 times a week. sticky wet sand. in the bath tub. EVERYWHERE!!!!

i think out of everything i hate dealing with the bathtub.

HOWEVER...

i am hoping the river water will not affect my dd's hair as the chlorine water did last year.

so sand still here. but in a different manner.

oh yeah - hard wood floors and no matter how much dusting off - still have to sweep to get the sand off.

Yes, bathtubs are a pain to clean sand out of. Have you tried using the hose before going inside to get most of it off? Or my friends who like to motor-home near the beach put a bucket of water outside the steps up to the motor home so no one tracks sand inside it.

[bnjjohnson]

I am so glad to see all these great responses! I thought I was the only one sick of the white socks that are now brown and the shoes that look like they've been through the desert!

I like the bucket idea - I may try that!

[darcytrue]

Originally Posted by LynnS6

For beach sand, I know that people recommend putting powder on your body before brushing off the sand. I wonder if that would work for sand in shoes? And I don't remember what kind of powder either.

I've used baby powder in the past but that was when the sand had been wet at the beach and was stuck on our legs and feet.

[Caneel]

Originally Posted by Hoopin' Mama

Our problem is sand in the pockets. I don't know what that child is doing in the play yard, but turn his pants upside down on any given day and a good amount of sand falls out.

Of course, I forget ALL the time. I pick up his pants off the floor and out is pours. I feel better after I curse under my breath.

I am right there with you...

[HappilyEvrAfter]

Originally Posted by bestjob

"I feel better after I curse under my breath."

I believe that is the only real solution.

: times, like, a thousand!

Then one day I had an EPIPHANY!

"Hey, this is free craft material!" I put a jar by the front door where we take our shoes off and just dump his shoes before they go on the shelf. VOILA! Free sand art material! Now I can get excited about the daily shoe dumping!! :

Now, the dirty, stained white socks are another story! : That I can't get happy about!!