The Woes of Mismatched Socks
****WARNING: THIS BLOG IS A JOKE....So it's okay to laugh at this Ninja Mom Rant*******
I have come to the
conclusion that socks are evil. Sure, they keep your feet warm and make for the
perfect all-purpose floor mop. However
they are diabolical. Somehow one always
gets lost. In couches, corners, wooded areas, and drawers all across the globe there
is a mismatched treasure trove of the extra socks no one wants to throw away
for fear they will one day find its mate and together the two socks can once
again live happily ever after. I find going through those extra socks can
sometimes be like searching a coal mine for a diamond. Perhaps next time I try
I should bring in a magnifying glass to help me in my quest.
Socks have become a
measure in which other parents set forth a ruler to judge the other. We’ve all been there, it’s some fancy event, Birthday
Party, or neighborhood game of dodgeball meets Hokey Pokey. Your silent Arch
Rival stands three feet from you while her child is wearing the most
brilliantly whitened and matching socks that somehow beams of light exude out
of them; as your child takes off their shoes you realize this is the day she is
wearing one sock that is hot pink and the other is multi-colored polka dots
with a hole exposing the big toe. You
see your rivals sidekick snicker and whisper, “I’m sure she is a horrible
housekeeper.” They laugh together in some shared silent moment of affirming
their own domestic skills.
Honestly I would want
to shout back, “You are correct, I am a horrible housekeeper. I don’t feel like
I ever applied for this job. I’ve never claimed to be a Miss Suzy Homemaker.”
However I know my moment wouldn’t help the situation any. You know silently
your grandmother, if she was still alive to witness this, would be furious with
you. In fact you make a mental list again to attempt to throw away all extra
socks and rush to the closest store to buy bags of new ones to add to your
collection. You will color coordinate and try again. Truthfully you know you’re
lying to yourself. It’ll only take a few months for the barrage of orphaned
socks to collect again. Secretly you wonder if your time in college would have
been better suited if you’d taken a class in ‘Sock Location’ and ‘How to Take
Sarcasm out of Socks.’
I support my teen
daughter’s decision to just go mismatched. She calls it a fashion statement. I
call it ‘Survival at its Finest.’ I support my husband’s choice to wear the
same basic black socks for the last fifteen years. He’s never told me so, but I
know that his theory is that I couldn’t mess those up.
Deep in the crevices of
my washer, dryer vent, in light fixtures, and on rooftops I know those socks
have their own pain. They congregate in numbers and tell their woes as if in a
support group. One lonely tube will speak up about how I washed it with a
tie-dyed T-shirt and now it’ll never match their match.
I have often suggested
my husband could fire me from the job of Laundry Royalty, but I know somehow
that will never work. I figure I’ll have a cup of tea, and everyone will just
learn to make due. I’ll pretend that when my youngest daughter wears one fluffy
sparkle sock and the other dirty white it really doesn’t bother me who is there
to see it. I’ll tell myself of all the ways I can be an incredible “Super Mom”
with those extra socks. We could make
sock puppets, a cup cozy, sew them into a cape, or a scented rice filled neck
warmer. Maybe I can even open up an Etsy store, and help my oldest with her
college tuition fund. I could write a Self-Help book and call it, “My Forgotten
Socks and Me.” Perhaps the New York Times Bestseller list isn’t ready for that
yet. I’ll remind myself that everyone
has dirty laundry somewhere and maybe mine is just a little more exposed. Maybe I’ll try to be trendy myself by
sporting a knee-high striped baseball sock with a lime green footie. Whatever I
do, I will not let these orphaned socks get the best of me. I will shake my
fist at their defiance. I will opt to renew my love of wearing sandals, and
keep my socks on the floor.
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