Sock Matching and the Mystery of the Lost Socks
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Where, oh where could their socks have gone? Where, oh where can they be?
Singing the Sock Matching Blues
Are you singing this song while you do laundry? I am. It’s an occupational hazard in “life as MOM.” Socks will go AWOL.
I have this childhood memory of a huge duffle bag bulging with mismatched socks. Obviously, my mom knew this song as well. And every once in awhile I would cringe when she’d call us all to come help sort. Five million socks strewn around the living room? Good times.
It left scars, I tell ya. I told my husband that I wanted it written our wedding vows that I would not have to match socks.
The Sock Matching Code
He came through. As a carpenter, he only needs one color socks – white. So, he bought all the same kind, and I never had to match his socks. I could just toss them into the drawer, and he’d find two each morning.
So, I think I am the one to blame for the above mess. What happened that I have such a pile of mismatched socks?!
Well, to be honest. Some of those I bought when FishBoy13 was a toddler! (And yes, I do use bleach on my whites. Who knew?) Truth be told, the frugal fiend in me has been afraid to part with them. If they’ve still got wear, I’ve been hesitant to part with them. But, this weekend I did a sock cleanse. And it felt good.
The sock companies have wisened up to the woes of mothers everywhere. Over the last year as I’ve bought new socks for the boys, I’ve noticed that Hanes and Fruit of the Loom have started color coding each size. At my husband’s encouragement, I’ve purchased each boy his own brand, size, and color.
FishChick even has her own brand:
Problem was I still held on to those decade old socks that did not fit the Sock Matching Code. Well, no longer. I ditched them this weekend. Yes, yes, I did. I figure that if five children had worn most of them, surely they’d done their duty. They were released from service. And it feels good.
Im thinking of putting rows of velcro on the back of the laundry door. Id get about 9 verticle rows.
Then when theres and oddy, it can stay there and wait for the eveny.
have you heard of Little MISSMATCHED? wont work for your husbands but the little girls love it. Why pay some one for what you already have. give the kids some permanent markers and let them jazz up the miss matched http://www.littlemissmatched.com/Promo/fun_funky_girls_socks?gclid=COXVwteA5aYCFaE65Qod6Rmgzw
I have a few ideas that are still in the works at our house. With frugality in mind we have been finding alot of socks at rummages..leaving us with a not so colored coordinated family of socks. So we use a “SOCK” clothesline hung above the washer . Each kid had their own colored clothespin (which they deocrated with stickers or painted themselves) Their odd socks were clipped untill the match was found. I found with three young ones my husband and I our clothesline was always full…so I working out a way to hang one for each member in the family. Or one really BIG one across the laundry room 🙂 You could even hang it on a wall with wooden letters spelling ODD SOCKS painted by kids or yourself above it. Or take pictures of your families feet with or without socks and frame them above their own clothesline. Once the laundry was all caught up the socks stayed on there for 30 days and then were put in the rag/dust basket….craft bin for sock puppets or to fill with beans/rice tied with a rubberband and used as bean bags for outdoor or indoor games…. or used as popsicle holders-Which my kids LOVE to do! (just slip the plastic popsicle inside and no more cold little hands! You could also tie ribbon around them to keep it tight) Our hosue still finds odd socks and one day I am sure I will miss the little ones I find in between the matress when my kids are all grown. And there may just be a side of me that holds onto those little cute ones after they are grown 🙂
Blessings,
Dawn
I have two small children so my technique has worked so far. For the kids socks and my own, I safety pin them before putting them in the hamper! They get washed that way and there’s no sorting!!! My husband wears all white socks and he fishes through his drawer to find two that match. When we’re ready to wear them again, I remove the safety pins and keep a stash where the kids can’t reach them. From time to find I’ll find a single but since there aren’t many, it will usually come together during laundry time. I hope this continues to work as my children grow and more socks get strewn around the room but so far, so good!.. Hope this helps.
Not sure I’ve ever commented, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE your blog!
The way we separate socks is buy each member a different style. We buy mostly white socks. My baby has, of course, baby socks… My middle son has smooth socks with hardly any “top” part. My oldest son has ripped (is that what they are called?). My husband is the only man in the house, so its pretty easy to separate his and mine…. mine usually have a pink kind. I’ve also seen that you can “label” the bottoms of the socks and I may have to do this in years to come when all 3 of my boys are bigger… and probably will be wearing a very similar size in socks!
Loved your socks story! We use white mesh zippered bags – only pairs can go in!
About all those extra socks…you can stuff an old pillowcase for a puppy with them, instant bed and you won’t mind if he chews it up. Washes well, too.
I match the socks whenever I put a load of laundry away but there always seem to be a few lone socks that don’t match any of the socks in the basket. I put those in a basket – all the lonely socks together. When the basket gets really full, I pay my boys 10 cents a pair to match the socks. They’re happy to do it to earn a little money and I don’t have to sort through a hundred socks.
Samantha
my husband wears white socks 99.999% of the time, When they come out of the dryer, I ‘match’ them up by amount of wear. If a hole is close, but not there yet, the sock is paired with another like it. If there’s truly a hole in one, it goes into my dustrag bin or becomes a “free” toy for the dog. (knotted up to cover the hole and if it gets chewed up, it goes away. Don’t want intestinal blockage or trip to the vet)
Old socks make great rags too! My kids seem to wear the heel out after about 18 months. So, then they get turned into rags.