Heard in Austin:

[urbpan]

"squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak..."

The sound of a dog's squeaky toy, coming closer, down the sidewalk, as we eat lunch outside. What should come up the way but a family--mom and dad and just-walking baby--the baby's shoes are making the squeak noise. Someone is manufacturing baby shoes with squeakers in them. There were a few people around us, and we all exchanged unbelieving looks. One guy said "that's the weirdest thing I've ever seen!" Well, no, but it's pretty weird.

Cut to a few hours later, in the airport, waiting for the announcement to board our plane: "squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak..." Another just-walking baby, with squeakers in its shoes. Someone is manufacturing baby shoes with squeakers in them, and at least two people have bought them. I can only imagine that the point of these shoes is that you always know where the baby is--you know, rather than watching them. I know, I'm not a "kid person," and I'll never have children so I'll never understand, but isn't this whole idea really obnoxious? The message I'm getting from it is "My child's safety is more important than your comfort."

They are coming to your school, your daycare center, your laundromat, grocery store (think of it--dozens of pairs of shoes--"squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak") dentist's office, your city street!

What do you think?

Comments

[badnoodles.livejournal.com]

I think it's time to break out the Clue-by-Four and deliver some beatings.

There is no excuse for exacerbating childrens' natural tendency to be publicly obnoxious.

[lizblackdog.livejournal.com]

OMFG..!

I'm just trying to think what might happen if Spike came across a child with aqueaky toy feet.

...it's not pretty.

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

the lady near us in the airport said (to the baby) 'you're lucky my dogs aren't here!'

[sin-agua.livejournal.com]

They should make them for teenagers - rather like putting a bell on a cat.

But kids that old can disable anything, so....

But yeah, that's just stupid. I thought the kids' shoes with the red blinky lights were bad enough, but squeaky, too? Someone in development should be smacked, for sure.

[by-steph.livejournal.com]

The blinky light shoes contain small amounts of mercury. A perpetuating cycle that is.

[grace-batmonkey.livejournal.com]

Apparently, they're allegedly supposed to encourage the wee ones to walk.

In practice, I think this will increase the likelihood of irritated bystanders holding down little kids and forcibly removing their footwear.

[gwodder.livejournal.com]

If this were a sane society we wouldn't need squeakers to keep track of children because they'd be making enough giggles and other happy noises to keep track of them. Also there'd be no chance of these noises being drowned out by machinery.

Of course if we were a sane society people wouldn't react to the sounds of children's happiness as though it were fingernails on chalkboard.

For God's sake, I've seen people on the T cringe like mad when a child laughs, all the while happily enduring the ungodly mechanical shriek of the train as it scrapes around the bend towards the station... something's wrong with this picture.

[almeda.livejournal.com]

Some little girls can be enticed to wearing bells on their braids.

I didn't figure out until high school that this had been one of my mom's many strategies for single-parenting a very active toddler and young-kid, while still getting housework and freelance writing done. :->

[jenhime.livejournal.com]

They've been really popular (around where I live) with families in Asian parts of town for several years now. I've heard varying reasons for putting squeakers in kids' shoes, but I'm not sure how I feel about it. Luckily, I've only ever encountered them in open public places like the mall and the park. I'd probably be annoyed if the noise were interrupting a meal at a nice restaurant though.

[http://users.livejournal.com/purplebunnie_/]

Not a horrible idea, but I like most kids. Even the brats.

Have you ever babysat a silent child?

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

It was a really loud and horrible constant noise - not the noise of happy child giggles and babbles.

But then, I don't like to hear cell phones ringing in public either.

:(

[momomom.livejournal.com]

Don't worry, most babes are confined to strollers anyway.

And It;'s Not a Mouse

[martianmoons.livejournal.com]

I agree, I think this is "over the top" and disrespectful of others. And I do not think the squeaking helps people locate their children. I have kids, and you keep track of them by looking at where they are going!

This is some marketing idea that was not well thought out.

[ritaxis.livejournal.com]

Of course, the child's safety is more important than your comfort, but that's not really what's at stake here. I don't think the point of squeaky shoes is to keep the child safe, or to encourage the child to walk (children walk just fine, unless there's a real problem that squaeky shoes will not address). The actual point of squeaky shoes is --

-- children like to make noise.

I don't think it's a good product, but I don't think it's important either.

[fledchen.livejournal.com]

I know of blind parents who use these for their kids, but only in the house!

[psongster.livejournal.com]

Now *that* I could understand. But for the fun of the noise? Aieee!

[miltonic-satan.livejournal.com]

I don't see why people can't stand a little silence. Not that many kids are quiet types. But why make them noisier than they have to be? Perhaps they shouldn't worry so much....

[bellelvsbeast.livejournal.com]

Those have actually been around for awhile...I have seen them a few years back, when I babysat an asian family. It's a HUGE trend in China and other asian countries...but yea it IS annoying...:P

[vampyrusgirl.livejournal.com]

If we start to get those at the zoo, Pacal will be noticeably fatter...

[roaming.livejournal.com]

Well, since I'm the crazy neighbor lady who shrilly shrieked back at the neighbors' kid who shrilly shrieks all day as though being chased by bats, the girl now woman who knew she never wanted kids, who finds them not at all cute and endearing but annoying and boring. . .

I think it's just awful. If you can't watch your kid well enough to not need to hear him/her squeek, you shouldn't be having 'em in the first place.

Oh, yeh: another reason I don't like kids? Their parents. Who all seem to think anything about their kid is more important than anybody else.

[gemfyre.livejournal.com]

They're all over the place in Malaysia. Every second kid squeaks when they walk. My mum went and bought a pair for my niece. *sighs*

Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure I had a pair of squeaky shoes when I was a little kid, and that was back in the early 80's.

[jolantru.livejournal.com]

My daughter wore these for a while. Then, she grew out of it. :P

[bunrab.livejournal.com]

Besides all that, the rapidly approaching pointlessness of it - once everybody's kids have squeaky shoes, how can anyone tell whether their kid is still in range, amongst all the other identical squeaking? So what we'll have is an overall noisier, more annoying environment, with not one iota more of safety. Sort of a really pukey version of the tragedy of the commons, in a twisted way.

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

gps tracking units, with alarm if out of radius. they sell them now. they even have versions (for dogs too), that can track multiple ... units (collars) :)

pretty slick imho :)

#

[peregrinehill.livejournal.com]

Squeaking isn't half as obnoxious as all the divisive self-righteousness in this post and its comments. I'm a parent and I try very hard to be respectful of other people, even dog owners. Sometimes the best I can do isn't good enough, though. I would like to think that strangers would show a little compassion.

And yes, my the safety of my children is more important that anything in the world. It's my job to take care of them. I'm their mother.

I don't think this post was appropriate as a general broadcast.

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

interesting response actually.

squeaking shoes does not to ME seem to be a safety feature in any way. they will not alert a car driver (cyclist, skater, walker - especially with music in their ears) to the child's presence i bet. not not loud enough. as for keeping track of the kid... they still crawl, easily could get out of range if you were depending on the sound or weren't listening for a moment.

i respect a parent's right to raise their kids as they see fit, that's a given. same for a dogs. i don't have to LIKE the behavior of the child/dog though, especialy if affects others. smoochie poochie kins might be the most wonderful doggie ever for the owner, but perhaps not to the lady who can't sleep because of the yapping. i can't blame the dog, i can blame the owner. training is important.

so, like smoking, and other antics in public, these do not necessarily trump good manners, public health/safety and disturbing the peace - and more. a parent might be used to their child's say, high pitched wailing, in distress or not for 20 minutes, but even to another parent i've found, that sound is awful. one can be tolerant for a while, but not forever.

does not urbpan or any blogger have every right to comment and opine as they want in their space? this is not a public sidewalk where he's telling a parent they're kid's racket is obnoxious and please cut it out. it's his personal space so to speak. as such, imho, telling someone in their own journal, that their opinion is inappropriate is ... out of place. i don't speak for him or others of course. what do you think?

#

[ndozo.livejournal.com]

I think this brief video sums it up: http://tinyurl.com/cts3l

I wonder if most of the kids wearing the squeaky shoes were Asian. There seems to be a real cultural difference in the amount of noise people tolerate many places there versus here. In many Asian cities I've been to car horns never stop, everyone's hawking and spitting, dogs bark and snarl, vendors drone their jingles, millions of jammed up scooters and taxis rev their unmuffled two-stroke engines, kids cry, grownups fight, roosters and chickens are squawking all over the place. Sometime it seems like Hell. But it's normal there. People are oblivious. Here,it seems like the higher the income level, the lower the tolerance for any noise but one's own. I went to a town meeting tonight and my wet sneakers were squeaking on the polished floor. I was embarrassed. Disliking noise is one thing, disliking kids is another. You probably wouldn't have liked the shoes any better on an adult than a child, in fact maybe you would have been even more irritated. Two issues I think and it's probably more politic to focus on the noise.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

That video is the most honest ad for condoms I've ever seen (funny, too).

Both the kids in Austin we saw with the squeakers were white/Angloamericans. Everyone around had (I project, here) the same reaction: "that's odd, but kind of cute" giving way to "I wonder how long I'm going to hear squeaking?"

You certainly can't blame the children for the noise, as they didn't select the shoes. And if an adult wore shoes like that, you would question their sanity.

The more comments I read, the more I realize that its probably just a fad from Asia that has made it to the US, will run its course, and disappear. So now we've had lights, wheel, and squeakers in shoes. What else can we put in kids' shoes to make them novel?

[azaz-al.livejournal.com]

Speaking as a PARENT, I cannot imagine wanting to have my kid wear such shoes. That would drive me BANANAS!

[interfecta.livejournal.com]

hear, hear.

Hint

[interfecta.livejournal.com]

Babies LOVE squeaky noises, but don't have the fine motor skills to grab a squeaky toy and squeeze it. There's a related toy on the market that is basically brightly colored socks with jingly bells or rattles in the toes, to encourage a very small baby to learn that his or her feet are connected. (When you're a newborn, you REALLY don't know anything. Really, you'd be amazed at what newborns don't know.)

I would assume the squeakers are to encourage babies to take steps. However, doctors recommend bare feet or the very softest sole that will still protect baby's feet for just-walkers, because otherwise the foot muscles don't develop as well. I can only imagine that squeaky shoes are NOT very soft.

Re: Hint

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

i'm guessing that the kid we saw on the street was 20-24mos and the one in the airport was about 16-17mos.

[krchicken.livejournal.com]

i had squeaky shoes, in the early 80s. i remember really liking them, but one of the squeakers died not too long after getting them.

i wasn't a just walking infant, though. i'm sure they annoyed other people, but they were more like those obnoxious shoes with wheels that cause small children to run into me in public places. bah.