Come On In, But Lose The Shoes

I bought a new pair of shoes this week, and after bringing them home from the store, I decided to walk around in the house with them on for a while to see if they still felt comfortable. Having outside shoes on in the house felt strange as we are a 'no outside shoes on in the house' family.

There are quite a few articles written about this subject and they inevitably mention that it is absolutely shoes off in the house for Muslim households and most Asian countries, but did you know that it is also a custom in many Canadian homes?

For me, it just feels uncomfortable to wear outside shoes in the house. I want to be cozy and comfortable at home and a part of that is kicking off my shoes along with a few other items. Even when I enter someone else’s home and they tell me to leave my shoes on, I take them off anyway. In the United States, the prevailing culture seems to be to wear your outside shoes in the house, so when visiting friends and family there, I go with the flow and leave my shoes on.

Apart from wanting to feel comfortable at home, I like my floors to look clean but don’t like the job of washing them often. Naturally, from this point of view, taking off your shoes just makes sense. Who wants all that stuff you step on outside to come into the house with you?

So, what do you do when someone comes into your house and doesn’t take their shoes off? It depends. If it is just a one-off short visit, I don’t say anything. If it is a long visit where the individual will be walking around in my house or is an overnight guest, I let them know politely that we don’t wear shoes in the house. A few years ago, when we were having overnight guests, I had the idea to put a basket by the door with house slippers bought from the dollar store. That worked brilliantly!

The one exception I have to no shoes on in the house is when entertaining and my guests are all dressed up for the occasion. Most guests usually bring their dressy shoes separately and change at the door. This just makes sense, especially in the winter months.

When it comes to my homestay guests coming from abroad, I usually communicate by email to get the housekeeping stuff out of the way before they arrive. At this point I will ask them to bring house slippers, explaining that we don’t wear shoes in the house. My Asian guests usually tell me that it is the same for them.

How do you feel about shoes on in the house, on or off? I would love to hear from you.
 
Your HomeStay Mom,