Life is a runaway train you can't wait to jump on
-Sugarland, "Already Gone"
This weekend, I attempted - YET AGAIN - to get the clothing problem under control. There was a giant mound of clothes in the hallway which were approximately 1/3 out of season, 1/3 too small for Luke, and 1/3 other assorted mess. There were sippy cup parts in there(?!?). So I sorted. One bin for the attic, one pile to go into Luke's dresser, one bag for Goodwill, one pile for Jay's room. Nothing out of the ordinary - just the constant rotation of children's clothing: out with the too small, in with the too big. Then, I got overly ambitious.
I tried to match socks.
Each of the boys has a sock drawer, and each is nearly overflowing with unmatched socks. I figured we could weed out the infant socks and the stretched out/stained/holes in the bottom ones and suddenly they'd all match up. (When will I learn?!) At the end of the matching party, I was left with nine - NINE - socks that didn't have mates. Who knew we had so many different varieties of socks?! Being sandal season, I was darn confident that no socks were hiding in the depths of the laundry piles, since the small feet in this family haven't seen socks in weeks.
In my new push to live a less clutter-filled existence, I did what any reasonable person would do. Knowing the mates to these 9 lonely stockings weren't in the laundry and weren't in their rooms, I chucked them. (Gasp!) Even the two really nice baby Gap ones, the only ones either kid would keep on their feet as infants. Into the trash. I was pretty proud of myself, and my uncluttering ways.
Fast forward to this evening.
Derek went to the grocery store, while I stayed here to straighten the house and take out the trash. (Take that, traditional gender roles!) I dutifully took out the trash, bidding a fond farewell to unmatched socks and the chaos they brought to my world. Then I went to unpack Luke's daycare bag. Guess what got sent home today?
Yup. Those are the "good" socks that actually stay on baby feet. The ones whose mates are in the trash that I just took out to the street mere moments before. And y'all wonder why I never throw anything away.
10 comments:
The real question -- did you go digging in the trash? Believe it or not, the discussion this week at VBS has been about mate-less socks. It's a hot topic this week. :) We used beanbags made from some just today.
Amy, digging in the trash was discussed. My first question was which trash bag did they go in--the kitchen (eww food scraps), the diaper pail (eww kid poop), or the cat litter box trash can (eww cat poop). After asking the question, I realized that it didn't matter. Jen wouldn't be willing to dig through any of those, and I wasn't willing to just for a couple pairs of $4 socks. Wedding ring, sure; socks, not so much.
I hate to let you in on some very depressing secrets...socks, will remain a nemesis your entire life. I did resort to making it a game for the kids when they were close to Jay's age yet older than Luke. The first one to match them all would win a treat. Horrible Mother that I was, I knew they would never match them all but it did keep them quiet for a bit. Condemn me if you must but remember I had four boys all wild and wooly. Ahhh what I did for a few moments of peace and quiet.
PS I also would bring out that bin of unmatched socks for my Mother in law...
I'm just impressed that you attempted to do the organizational thing!! Where DO those unmatched socks go? A burning question in my house.....LYTB, AJ
Again, thanks for the laugh. I am SO glad I am not the only one with clutter management issues. I was wondering if you went digging in the trash, too??
For some reason you seem to think that 9 unmatched socks is a lot?!?! That is just a regular load of laundry in our house, and its just 2 adults living here! :-)
love reading your posts! a good laugh:) can't we all relate to the sock nightmare?!
I hate socks. I think baby sock matching should be a requirement in teen sex ed classes. While all your friends are out on Saturday night, you will be at home matching socks. I don't know about 16 year olds, but it certainly keeps me from wanting any more kids!! :-)
-Martha
Hi
My name is Jenna and i came across your site. Jay is an amazing, courageous, strong and determined fighter. He is a brave warrior, smilen champ, and an inspirational hero. I was born with a real life threatening disease. I love it when people sign my guestbook. www.miraclechamp.webs.com
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