I learned the bunny ears way in the summer before first grade from the “cool” older boy at my babysitter’s house. Then during school I was taught the other way for a few years but eventually switched back to the bunny ears because it’s the only way my shoes stay tied. My brother didn’t master it till about fourth grade, I think.
Does anyone double knot their shoes? I have to double knot em or my shoes will come untied.
Yeah, I was going to say the same thing. I’m sure I’ve just always known.
Other…method? 
I learned in Kindergarten, never made it work until I was around 12 or 13, still haven’t mastered it - they come untied frequently.
I’d still wear velcro if velcro shoes were still made in sizes and styles I wear.
I still really haven’t.
I did the bunny ears thing for years, but after about 20 minutes of walking they untie. So now I double tie bunny ears. Someone tried to teach me about a year ago, but it still came untied after a few minutes.
Sad no?
For me, nothing spectacular or unusual (3 edging on 4) but my little sister has me and everyone else posting so far beat: at the age of 2, my Mom asked if she could attend nursery school and was told she was too young. Mama countered that she was continent and advanced for her age, and what actually got her in was demonstrating that she could tie her own shoes.
There’s some kind of gene there that she passed on to my niece, who at the age of 3, when we were all vacationing at my parent’s house and I was (theoreticallly) “helping” her unpack, meaning essentially do it for her but show her where I put all her stuff…except that she opened her suitcase, opened drawers in the dresser, and then explained that she was putting all her tops in here, with the folded sides all facing like so, so they would not get messed up when she reached over and past them for her socks, which would go at the back of the same drawer. And she refolded several items that were not kempt enough to suit her before putting it away.
I was about 3 when I learned the bunny ears thing, then a year or so later when I was at tiny tots (basically pre-k, I guess) and another kid showed me the other way. She was convinced I was wrong.
What the heck is the “bunny ears” thing?
How is it different from the “other” method? Is the result a different slipknot?
I think I was between first and second grade - I know that either my kindergarten or first grade teacher kept trying to get me to learn, but I just didn’t get it.
Reading I had down by the start of kindergarten, but those manual dexterity things were occasionally beyond me.
It results in the same knot (I think), it’s just a different way of tying it:
- Cross the two strings and loop one back around.
- Take the two loose ends and fold each in half, making two loops (“bunny ears”).
- Cross the two loops and loop one back around.
You’ve got a bow.
Apparently it takes more coördination to tie (since you’ve got to hold the ends to keep them in loops before they’re tied together), but is easier to learn since how it works is more readily apparent.
I learned by four, well before I started kindergarten, thanks to my dad.
He was a gifted amateur woodworker (some of his furniture is gorgeous) so he figured out a way to help when I couldn’t figure out the shoelace thing. He made a little wood shoe-shaped cutout, drilled holes in it for the laces and painted it like a red sneaker. It was easy for me hold and toy-like enough that it made shoe tying fun. It made it a breeze to graduate to real shoes.
Thanks, Dad.
There’s actually three methods that I know of.
Bunny ears, regular and something my Dad does to get 3 loops instead of two. :dubious: No idea how he does it, he tried to show me but I never caught it.
I have a different method myself but I didn’t learn it as a kid and it doens’t result in the same slipknot.
When you tie your shoe the regular way, you cross the strings and tuck one end under the other string. I also tuck the other end under the first string in the opposite direction, making the first part of the knot a “double hank”. When you cinch it down it stays there better while you make the loops.
Then…when tying a shoe the regular way, you make a loop of one lace, wrap it once with the other lace (with your thumb included), then pull your thumb out and stick a bend of the wrapping lace in the hole left when you pull your thumb out, then pull the loops tight, right? I put a second wrap around the loops before inserting the bend of the wrapping lace.
I do this weird thing because I’ve got skinny feet and shoes tend to loosen on my feet to an annoying degree when I tie them the usual way.
I don’t remember my age exactly, but I remember that it was the summer after kindergarten, so probably 5 going on 6. The older kids in my neighborhood were playing a game in the middle of the street (I think it must have been a block party of some sorts) and I sitting on the curb across the street from my house. I finally managed to tie my shoes on my own and I ran across the street where my parents were to show off my success. I think we celebrated at Dairy Queen…
I was 5 or 6 I suppose, but I don’t remember exactly. Sometime around high school I got tired of my shoelaces coming untied, and I never liked the regular double knot methods because they were a pain to unravel, so I discovered the Better Bow and improved it further by adding a third pass during the tying process. That sucker will never loosen under any circumstances, and still unties when you want it to. You do have to be careful that the end of the lace doesn’t drift through the loop when you’re untying it though, or it will be a big snarl.