Learning to tie laces for the Velcro generation

When Boy Two got his first football boots last year I realised I’d forgotten to teach him – and his big brother – how to tie their laces.

For almost a decade, at great expense, I’d put squashy little feet into properly fitted shoes, boots and sandals without realising that none of them fastened with laces. Velcro is fabulous stuff, saving teachers hours and hours of back-breaking retying of small shoes.

But it has single-productly been responsible for creating a generation of children who aren’t in a hurry to learn to tie a bow.

I found it incredibly difficult to untangle the act of tying my shoelaces into parts someone else would understand. So I consulted my old friend Dr Google for some inspiration.

Dr G told me, via the BBC, that the ‘rabbit’ method was the most popular.

It goes something like this:

• Take the two shoelaces, and wrap them around each other.
• Take the two ends, and make them into two bunny ears.
• Pretend the bunny is very cold, and the ears wrap around to keep warm... one goes up, the other goes down, and the bunny is snugly.

I tried it but it didn’t make much sense to me or the Boys. eHow has a more detailed explanation that works a little better.

However, if you are determined to find a rhyme to help your kids there are dozens involving tepees and bridges.  eHow again has a good resource.

The other tips I discovered were:

• Try using two laces of different colours so your child can see where they’re going
• Standing behind them to help so you get your usual perspective
• Give them a shoe to practice on during car journeys
• Use one of many specialist books on the subject such as Red Lace, Yellow Lace

My Boys are gradually getting the hang of it and as Boy Two got ready for football practice this evening he asked for help but then answered his own request.

“I know, I know. I have to learn, Fernando Torres’ mum doesn’t do his laces up before practice.”