I believe socks are the bane of every mother's existence. I know they are the bane of mine. Yesterday afternoon when I urged my 11-year-old to hurry up and get his shoes on so he and his brothers could take the dog to the park, he said, "I need socks." That was probably the fourth time that day that he'd made that announcement.
I am always doing laundry, and we are always running out of socks. How is that even possible? And if we haven't actually run out, then no one has matched them up -- and no one besides me seems capable of matching the many varieties and brands of white ankle socks that we now own. This leaves him always announcing, "I need socks," which is code for "I can't find any socks and I'm too lazy to keep looking."
Truth be told, a certain 11-year-old seems to be the most incapable of ever finding a pair of socks. He is easily frustrated and because that frustration can snowball into excessive emotion over a very small issue and that excessive emotion can then snowball into a migraine...well, you can probably see how I've participated in the development of his small incapabilities. Also, because he is, in general, highly responsible and self-motivated, these incapabilities have sort of slipped in and taken root without me realizing how insidious they are.
So, while it may be time to head to Wal-Mart for a few more bags of socks, it may also be time for me to become a little less involved in helping people find a matching pair. We have friends who dump all the socks into a treasure chest, and it's up to the kids to match them all. Do you think there's a treasure chest aisle at Wal-Mart?
Just kidding. A laundry basket will do just fine.
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4 comments:
Here's a few ideas:
What if he goes without socks for a day? Is that so terrible? It may be the pressure he needs to learn to find socks when he needs them.
Ultimately, though, I think that it would be good to get him to do his own laundry. Make him responsible for clean clothes and maintaining a sock supply.
If neither of these are tenable ideas, how about when you go to Walmart you buy an extra bag of socks and hide it in your dresser. Then, when there are no socks, you can pull out a pair just to get over it. But make him pay for it somehow - either in money or in a chore that he will do for you.
Oh, and just so you know, after a few months socks crawl out of the dresser drawer and go to die under the bed. They decompose into dust bunnies, which is how they get there.
Hey, sorry that my last comment was so "fix it" oriented. I'm sorry that you are having struggles with socks. Probably feels like more emotional energy than the subject ought to be worth.
Peaj, I appreciate the fix it ideas. No need to apologize.
For some reason I have this affliction in which I see my younger two as younger than they are. I am trying to fix that and require greater responsibility from them. I am also terrible at delegating, just in general. But I am trying to focus more on helping these guys become responsible adults, and that's why the sock issue is irritating me so much -- because I see where I'm failing.
Ha ha... I am never able to find socks when I need them, and the laundry never ends! Poor kids, when anyone asks what they need for birthdays, christmas, etc, I always say "socks!" Now that we have gotten safely past the holidays, the girls are pretty well stocked. I've tried to show them how to match them up when I'm folding laundry, and encourage them to help in this way, but they just look at me, leave the socks in their lap, and continue unfolding the clothes I've just folded. oh joy.
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