What is the statute of limitations for single socks? Some can hang around for years. Why is letting them go so hard?
During the day, I have my two youngest children at home. As most parents know, this makes it pretty hard to get things done around the home. Today, though, I couldn’t put off the laundry any longer and needed to get some things washed, dried and folded (ironing will be another day).
When I have laundry like this to do, I try to involve the kids. It keeps them occupied and teaches some life lessons. Too young to fold very well, they are assigned to single sock duty.
In our master bedroom, we have an old paper shopping bag where all of the single socks go. These are the socks I assign to the kids to match. The problem lately is that the bag always seems to be at least half full (or half empty, if you are an optimist). This tells me that there are many single socks that haven’t had their mates in a long time. A couple of gloves and mittens have snuck in as well. Since it is in the 80s today, I had to face facts that these single gloves and mittens are probably never to be matched.
But what about the single socks? The last time I threw caution to the wind and got rid of the single socks was three years ago when we moved. Unfortunately, my mother-in-law found them and packed them all up anyway. Who knows how long some of them have been in the bag. It is probably time to buck up, go through the entire bag and toss–gasp–any that don’t match.
The problem is that I know that if I do this, all of the matches will suddenly come out of the woodwork, and I’ll have another bags half full of singles, the matches to the ones I just tossed.
I know I have to do it. The socks aren’t paying rent, and I could use that space in the closet for shoes. But I need support. Anyone out there willing to lead a 12-step program for the single sock-less?