One, Two, Velcro My Shoe....

Ugg. I have been repeating this Mother Goose rhyme for nearly five years and I'm never quite sure if I should say velcro, buckle or tie.  Diversity in footwear seems to be a phenomenon that has gotten little attention in the world of preschooler development.  All those little soft activity books and dolls are still insisting we teach our children to tie shoe laces. I know, having been a triathlete in my pre-mom decades of adult life, shoe laces have not gone entirely by the wayside. I have taught my children to use the potty by 18 months, to make their own beds by 2.5, to put their own laundry away by 3, but this aspect of self-sufficiency I just cannot will myself to tackle.  Will my daughters end up like the fictional Crane Brothers who reached 40 and still couldn't ride bicycles?  Will they have a secret stigma that they never learned to tie laces? This of course has come to the forefront of my mind as a few weeks ago we buckled (pun intended) and bought the "Twinkle Toes" light up sneakers from Sketchers. Yes, I succumbed to the latest rage in little children fashion market, but I will leave the downward pit of materialism for another blog. (For the record, I was scientifically minded in admiring the technological aspect of these shoes when I made the purchase, heh heh...).  These shoes even come with a choice of laces: pink or silver. Now they sit in the shoe bins unused as we all ignore the elephant in the room. My girls have no idea how to tie the laces, and they are already programmed to put on one of the dozen other non-lacing pairs and strap themselves into their carseats when it's time to leave the house. Not to mention that sneakers require socks or they start to stink and make really poor hand-me-downs. And did you know stinky feet encourage more mosquito bites? Anyone else encounter the lace dilemma? What age do you teach shoe-lace tying?