I tend to do laundry about every 1 1/2 to 2 weeks, depending on how much the full laundry baskets are getting on my nerves. And it seems, without fail, that there are at least a couple socks that went in the washer as a duet and suddenly come out of the dryer as a solo act. I've even tried putting the girls socks in those sweater/lingerie bags when I wash and dry them to avoid this calamity, but I don't feel the socks get as clean (or dry) this way, so have given up on that, much to the enjoyment of the hungry creature living in my dryer.
The Sock Monster also doesn't seem to discriminate based on size or color. I can't speak for Matt's sock supply since he does his own laundry (bless him!) but all three of the females in our house have at least a couple lone rangers in the sock world right now. It's not a huge deal, none of us are going without foot coverings during this cold winter, but it is annoying.
After matching up all the pairs of socks I leave the lonely little singles on top of our dressers, just in case their partner is able to escape the clutches of its evil captor and make it's way back to it's sole mate (ba dum bump!). I always include the loners in my sock matching endeavors, just in case we get lucky and their pair has resurfaced from the abyss.
Today upon finding four (!?!?!) singles after matching everything else up I was able to reunite two pairs with their mates after one had spent some very lonely time on the dresser alone. But some of these loners seem destined to remain single for the rest of their existence. The sad solitary lavender sock? It's been months since she's seen her match. The tan one has probably been waiting just as long to feel complete again.
*Note, I did not tell Melanie to put her lonely, naked little toes in this picture, but I kinda like what their presence adds to it.
And yes, I do realize a couple of them look very close to matches based on this picture, but they are not, and my obsessive compulsive tendencies will not allow me to pair a basketweave brown sock with a plain one. I just can't do it. I'm letting go of some things, but this I fear is not one of them.
So if by some strange hole in the cosmos (or the back of my dryer) you happen to find one of the mates to these lonely socks, please send them my way. I hope one day the dreaded Sock Monster will be vanquished and our footwear families will be whole again and live in fear no more.
5 comments:
is this the same washer/dryer from your old house or a new one? are you sure the socks go into the washer as a pair? have you investigated whether they go into the dryer as a pair? this is both fascinating and very amusing. (loved the sole mate joke.)
i have heard that sometimes the monster is the agitator on a top loader washer. but if you have a front loader that couldn't be the case. maybe matt is being sneaky and stealing socks to watch you go crazy?!
this issue certainly needs further exploration.
(ben wants silly hair like melanie-pig tails, and likes to see claire's smiling face. he's on my lap.
(( can you tell i'm bored/avoiding work?))
I really enjoyed this post a lot for whatever reason. And I'm not poking fun, I really can identify. Newborn socks are the WORST, because if they're not getting lost in the washer or the dryer, the static electricity is sticking them to the inside of one of Gemma's blanket sleepers!!!!! I have just begun throwing our miss-matches back in the hamper in hopes that maybe the next time around they will reunite (or just disappear themselves). This works out OK, and at least I don't have to look at a pile of lonely socks and OCD over them.
At any rate, good luck.
we do the same thing and sometimes I end up just throwing socks out when it seems clear that their partner is gone for good.
Do you have a front loader washer? I've noticed a lot of our socks get stuck in between the tubing and the door.
We have a top load washer. I did absolutely no research on the matter. My parents wanted to buy us a washing machine for our wedding, so we went out with mom and dad at some point before the wedding and just picked on out. I'm sure when this one dies I will opt for for a front load washer.
Monica and Erika - you follow Matt's strategy of continuing to wash socks until their mate shows up. Not sure why I don't do it that way, but I don't. Yet.
Mary - I appreciate your conspiracy theories, and they let me to ask Matt if he ever had missing socks without accusing him of snagging ours, and he said he too suffers from missing footwear. I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt on that one, simply because if I come out and ask him if he's taking our socks he may actually start to do it, just to be funny.
LOL! We definitely have a sock monster at our house!!!
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