The Apples in My Orchard

We have a sock problem at our house.  As many as 30 unmatched socks are stacked up waiting for mates.  The sock hit the fan this weekend when I combined the socks in our bedroom closet with the socks in the laundry room, all waiting for mates. Some have been waiting a long time!

I asked my husband to look under the bed AND in his drawers for any socks without a mate. He found a few. Then, I asked both of our sons that live at home to do the same. “Please look under your beds and in your dresser drawers,” I asked.

“Do it today,” I added.  One did and one did not.

“When I finish the laundry, these unmated socks will be thrown out. I cannot keep them any longer.” This is what I told them all. I tried to sound stern but I knew no one really cared.  Socks? Unmated socks? It’s a first-world problem. Really?! Who cares?! I do. Or, so I thought.

Yesterday, I did laundry. Lots and lots of laundry. As each load came out, I mated the socks. We have an abundance of black socks in all shapes and sizes!

Four adult size males all wearing black socks is confusing!  We’ve tried having one person stick with one brand so we know “whose” sock it is but that has not worked!  And, I forget which brand goes with which family member. At the completion of doing laundry, I still had many – too many -unmated socks. Some of these socks lost their mates many months ago. They’ve sat in a pile with others like themselves, those without mates, in my closet and on the dryer.

With the laundry completed, under the bed checks performed, and mates found for only some of the socks. I finished playing match maker, gathering those left and placing them in their final resting place – the garbage can!

At least for the short term, our sock problem is solved.