Tuesday, December 21, 2010

White Socks in The New Year

One of the things I love about starting a new year is you get a clean slate. My library fines are cleared, thanks to a neat program where you bring in food for the local food banks and the library zeroes out your fines. I can also start fresh when it comes to socks.

If I were to dump out all the mismatched socks we've ended up with through the year, they would just about cover my king size bed. I have two plastic bags full, plus a laundry basket halfway full, that's stored in my closet. I really don't want to carry these into the new year. I'm ready to zero them out.

So here's what I'll do.

I will give it one more honest effort to match up the socks. Then, I will gather up all the socks still missing their mates and send them to the trash. (You could keep a few for play puppets, dust cloths for yourself or your kids--just slip a hand into it. The rest are going bye-bye so I can enjoy a new start).

Once we clear out the old, everyone gets new socks for the new year. I can't remember where I read this tip, but I thought it was a great one: Each family member gets one kind of sock, and it's even better if they're all white, with a few dress pairs if needed.

So for example, my oldest son has a 6-pack of white Hanes socks (they have green lettering on the bottom). If I find a stray sock, it is easy to put it in his sock pile, because they all match. My middle-boys share a pack of Hanes with red lettering on the bottom. I can instantly tell whose they are, and they all match. My husband wears Smart Wool. I need to get myself some new socks.  I bought some white pairs last year, and they've all gone missing. Every single one, except for one. Isn't that strange?!

Today I am grateful for a fresh start with white socks in the new year.
(Linked to Works for Me Wednesday)

1 comment:

  1. We are a family of seven. I have long used the method you are now embarking on and I find it works quite well. I do about 3 loads of laundry (at least) every day, so I find one package of socks per person to be sufficient. I have only one girl, so hers are always the easiest to match. I also find that folding laundry as soon as it comes out of the dryer helps keep down on the number of lost socks. OH - and having fewer places for dirty laundry - meaning there are only two places upstairs for collecting dirty laundry and only one place downstairs, which is the utility/laundry room.

    ReplyDelete

ShareThis