The Prodigal Sock

For the most part, I do the laundry at our house. It makes good sense: I am home most of the time; I notice when the washer stops and usually remember to take the clothes out of the dryer and fold them. I am probably a little more particular about how I like my clothes washed, dried and folded as well. So, if you're going to be picky about something, you should probably do it yourself. I don't really mind this. During a game of Cranium's Whoonu, my sister in law found out that, although laundry is not really so bad as far as household chores go, it ranks rather low when given the option of other fun and interesting things.

My favorite laundry

I am also pretty careful about making sure that the socks have mates. I like that. It's good sock stewardship. When Dan does the laundry, an inordinate amount of socks become "called to singleness," as he likes to call it. Dan would probably prefer to buy socks in packages of 10 pairs. Ten pairs of all the same socks, so that "in case you lose one, it doesn't really matter, you can still use the other sock." There's some logic in that which I can appreciate.

I have a totally opposite approach to socks. First of all, I don't like the kind of socks that you can buy in packages of 10. They're usually sport socks, too thick... I just don't like them. I like socks that are a little thinner, usually you buy them by themselves or in a pack of two, maybe three pairs, but not the same socks... coordinating, usually (why it would matter that they were coordinating is kind of silly... when do you wear 2 pairs of socks at one time when it matters that you coordinate? Anyways...). Also, they are usually fun colours and designs, which I also like. It matters when I lose a sock. I don't just give up and think, "well, I might lose another sock some day, so this one will come in handy when that happens." I think, "I've got to find that sock!" and I go looking for it.

My socks are worth searching out. They're not a cheap, by-the-10-pack socks that don't matter if you lose one or two, they're my socks. Okay, so they're just socks, but they're my socks. And I like them. And I will leave the 99 and go search out my one sock that got stuck behind the washer and bring it back into the fold (heh heh heh). And the prodigal sock will be worn and washed and cared for once again, as if it were never lost.