4th September Parents brush up on old chinese remedies

Thousands of parents up and down the land have been searching the internet looking for a crash course in Chinese footbinding in order to ensure that their children's feet have some chance of fitting into the only remaining sizes of shoes left in the shops, 48 hours before schools reopen again.

Having stood in a queue for over 45 mins just waiting to get in the shop, mother of one, Sarah Jones wait alongside other parents and what can only be described as feral children, ended in disapointment when she discovered that all size 5 school shoes had sold out. 

Undeterred and desperate to ensure that 6yr old Sophie would not be shamed into having to wear last years scuffed and scarred Smart-Rite shoes, Sarah has been left with two options. Option 1 is to buy Sophie a pair of size 11 'clown shoes', stuff old socks into the toes and hope that her daughter would eventualy grow into them before she actually left school. 

Option 2 is to embrace a well loved tradition that has stood millions of Chinese children in good stead for centuries. Assuming they could actually stand up afterwards. And wanted to have functioning toes, although it might well open up the possibility of a career as a ballet dancer as an unexpected bonus.

In breaking news, Grace Under Pressure to able to reveal to all those who were horrified by the possible fate awaiting Sophie's 10 little piggies, that in a moment of compassion Sarah has ultimatly decided that it would be unneccessarily cruel to subject her daugher to Chinese footbinding just to ensure her feet could fit into a pair of size 5's. 

So let's all hope that Sarah's plan B to put Sophie in the washing machine for a quick hot wash will help to shrink her feet by the required amount in time for Mondays school reopening.

 


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