Fit to Be Tied

Well, here we are all the way into August... of 2013...  Does that baffle anyone else??  I'm not feeling ready for our second year of homeschooling.  To be honest, some of the struggles we dealt with still linger from last year with no solutions yet obvious.    I'm daunted but my husband is being wonderful and supportive so that is helping quell some of my anxiety.  And, on the flip-side, I'm excited about some new (to us) materials and curriculum we're going to try out this year.    How about you?  Whether public, private or homeschool, what are you most excited and anxious about heading into the new school year?

In honor of back to school, this post won't be so much inspirational, but hopefully, helpful in a practical way.  For those with kids who still do not know how to tie their shoes but who have seen a noticeable price difference for shoes with velcro, this post is for you!  Buying shoes for three or four little boys requires that I save the pennies everywhere I can which meant laced shoes instead of velcro.  I knew this would NOT be helpful to their teachers or me so I had to brainstorm a solution.  (Shoe shopping may be in our weekend plans and thankfully, two of my four boys now know how to tie their own shoes!)

So, without further ado...  one solution to laced shoes for kids who can't tie:

Take the laces completely out and tie a single knot in the very center of the lace.  Repeat two more times on either side of the knot so there are five knots centered in the lace.  (Depending on your child's shoe, you may have to modify this to four knots OR may be able to fit a sixth knot in there)

Lace the shoes as normal with the knots going across between the first two holes (see below).

Once the shoes are laced you will have shorter ends sticking out.  Taking one cord stop bead (I found them in two-packs at my local Joann, they look like the ones in the picture but any style similar will work) criss-cross the laces (one in each direction) through the center of the cord stop bead while pinching it.  

Once the laces are through the bead, tie a figure-8 knot in each end of the laces to keep them from getting back out of the bead. 

Now you're done!  Almost any child should now be able to loosen his or her shoes by pinching the bead and pulling it to the knots then tighten them again by pulling on the knots.  If the laces are still too long at this point, you can always cut them just a little shorter, tie a knot in the ends, then gently melt the frayed bits with a lighter or candle.  

I hope this helps with busy mornings or busy teachers and I pray the new school year is a blessing for you and your kids!