He's 7 and I just found out he's been wearing velcro shoes the entire time. How did I miss this?? Wife is laughing at me but now I gotta figure out how to teach him and he's getting frustrated immediately which is making ME frustrated. Anyone have a good way to teach this that doesn't involve me losing my temper?
Wait till he realizes the other kids aren't wearing velcro anymore. That was the motivator for mine. Suddenly learning mattered because he wanted the cool shoes.
the bunny ears method worked for my daughter way better than the regular crossover way. youtube has good videos on it if you're not sure how to explain it yourself
You didn't miss it as bad as you think. At 7 velcro is still totally normal. I didn't have my oldest in actual laced shoes til 8. The fact you're teaching him now puts you ahead of half the parents I know.
How did you miss it? Because he got around fine in velcro lol. But yeah the frustration part is real - don't make it a big deal, just casual practice while watching tv or something
Don't get frustrated with him getting frustrated - that's the killer. Keep sessions to like 5 mins max, make it a game not a lesson. My son finally got it when I let him practice on a wooden board with thick rope instead of actual shoes first.
Real talk - show him the bunny ears method first, not the loop-swoop-pull thing. Bunny ears is way easier for kids to visualize. Once he's got that down you can show him "the fast way" if he cares.
this is such a dad thing lol. my wife pointed out our 6yo was still in velcro and i was like "well he doesn't NEED to know yet" - wife was not amused
lol I did the same thing with my daughter until kindergarten teacher mentioned it. The velcro phase is actually great though - use it as leverage. Tell him once he learns real laces he can pick ANY shoes he wants. Made mine actually want to learn.
Haha bro this is a sign. Probably means there's other stuff you're gonna realize soon too. Nothing wrong with that, kids teach us what we're missing
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7 is actually right on time to learn, don't stress. he's gonna be frustrated for like 2 weeks then suddenly it'll click
don't let him get too frustrated in one sitting. 5-10 mins of practice, then move on. his brain needs breaks to process the muscle memory