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.
We don’t match socks either….I only buy white, but grandma’s and aunties like to buy “special” ones – this is our sock solution:
Moneyless Momma’s – no more matching socks
We only buy one color too! Poor baby girl will have to forgo the fun socks like her brother’s before her. Now that my 2 y.o. can fit (read: swim) in his brother’s green hanes socks they both have the same socks and will share this way.
I did the same thing years ago. I stopped obsessing and just bought them their own socks, all the same. SOOOOOO much easier!
lol…love it! I so sympathize.
How funny! I keep the socks forever too, and I keep telling myself to just throw away all of them and start completely new. But I can’t!! We have a move coming up, maybe I’ll be motivated to to it for the move! New socks feel so much better than socks that are 7 years old!
I have a sock basket-a small laundry hamper where all socks go when they are taken out of the dryer. When we are almost out of socks I tilt the basket in the floor of the den and we all match them up. Every once in a while I have to do a sock cleanse also. I did this just last night while watching TV with hubby actaully.
This is pretty much what I have always done.
My mother had a ‘sock basket’… a full size laundry hamper that was full of mismatched socks. In high school, I preferred to wear converse hi top shoes because I didn’t have to match my socks. I just pulled out two mismatches and wore them. I didn’t want to make my children spend hours and hours every month looking for matching socks!
Every person in the house has their own socks. When we get to the point that we are down to a few pairs, I start watching for good sales and ALL their old socks (in good condition) get paired up and tossed in the donation bag and then I buy 3-4 packs, usually around 20 pairs. This will usually get us through an entire school year with a few pairs left over for the days during the summer that they are wearing tennis shoes instead of sandals.
My husband and I do the same thing, but not as frequent. We tend to not strip our socks off in random places to never see them again, so our socks last longer. I have black dress socks, and white socks for tennis shoes. My husband has white socks for tennis shoes and a couple of pairs of black and khaki colored socks that he wears when he wears khakis or dress pants.
Must be on the same page – we ditched our unmatched sock bin last weekend – but I kept them under the sink for the kids to use as dustrags – they fit perfectly over their hands and make dusting “fun” – or as fun as dusting can be
@kris, What a great idea! I think that this will make me feel better about tossing my single socks…somehow I’m always just sure that the mate will turn up in the next load. And of course, it never does. LOVE the duster idea!
Several months ago I found the answer to the disappearing sock mysteries… I didn’t write it, but it’s worth a read: http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Laundry-Monster
I have a friend who says the missing socks get sucked into the hour we lose in the Spring. 🙂
As for our sock dilemma, when I got pregnant with my second child, I bought only white socks for my daughter, hoping I could pass them to the next (not knowing if it were boy or girl). What a smart decision!