I
hate pairing socks. It takes too long and I always end up with more
orphans than pairs. I dread doing it, and now I have a giant bag of
unmatched socks in the corner of my laundry room. Suggestions?
Answer:
The
way to solve your problem is to fold each load of laundry immediately
when it comes out of the dryer. As you fold, lay out each sock on top
of your machine (or bed or wherever you are folding). When its mate
comes out of the drum, fold them together immediately.
As
for your giant bag of socks, the only way to match and fold them is
to match and fold them. Sort by color, then by style. Get an
audiobook and get going. Or you could pay a child to do it, make a
child do it as a consequence for bad behavior (although I do not
recommend linking laundry tasks to punishment — it’s
unfair to the laundry), or make it a fun parent-child activity with a
puzzle-loving child.
Once
you have your bag of socks paired, maintain the order by always
pairing socks right out of the dryer. The inevitable small stash of
orphans can be kept where you fold clothes and checked against each
load as random socks turn up. If a sock’s mate doesn’t
turn up within a few months, you can throw it away.
Does
that sound do-able?
Or
does it sound awful?
Because
if that sounds awful to you, and if you have no higher purpose for
matching and folding that big bag of socks, I don’t think you
should actually do it. Some unpleasant tasks must be learned and
conquered. But spending painful hours pairing old socks that may or
may not have mates is a waste of time unless you enjoy it as
recreation. Life is too short.
Instead,
start over with a new system: Buy all new socks that all match each
other.
Here’s
how it would work:
First,
throw away all your socks and start over. Is that wasteful? Not
really. If your socks are in a huge, unmatched pile somewhere, it’s
almost the same as not having them because they are in the pile and
not in your sock drawer. You might as well throw them away and get
some socks that you will actually wear because they are easy to
launder, match, fold, and put away.
Don’t
donate your old socks. No one wants them. Don’t plan to turn
them into dust rags or crafts. You don’t need that many dust
rags and I bet you’ll never actually make the crafts.
Second,
go to the store and buy only one brand of sock in each color, style,
and size. Buy ten or twelve identical pairs of everyday socks for
each person in your family.
You
might purchase only Hanes, which have a size-specific colored logo
under the toe to help you match them. Matching socks is a snap when
you only have to look at the color of the word “Hanes:”
greens belong to Clementine, reds to Josh, blues to Jeff and Larry,
and blacks to Dad.
The
goal is to make sure every sock is easily distinguishable, so you
could also buy different brands for different family members as long
as there is an obvious logo or style difference for each person’s
socks: Adidas belong to Frank, Nike mid-calfs to Trevor, Nike ankle
socks to Sylvia, and the plain white ones are yours.
You
can do the same with black socks, brown socks, and dress socks
(although you don’t need to buy as many pairs of dress socks
for people who only wear them once a week). Patterned socks are also
easy to match.
Third
is the maintenance step. When any sock gets a hole, throw it (and its
mate, if it is a patterned sock) right in the trash. When a sock is
stained or filthy beyond laundering, throw it away. When you are down
to only a few dingy pairs of a certain color, throw them all away and
buy new ones. That way, you don’t have a mish-mash of dingy and
bright socks.
What
if you have a very large family? This system is even more important
for you! What could be easier than eliminating the sock mess by
purchasing only socks that match? I knew one very large family that
only had two kinds of socks for everyone: white and black. All the
white matched and all the black matched and everyone could spend
their time worrying about more important things.
This
system may seem superficially wasteful, but socks are only worth a
minimal amount of your time and mental energy. If matching socks is
hard for you, spend some money and make it easy.
You
see, this is one of the happy problems in life you can solve with
money. Not every problem can be solved with money, so when the
opportunity arises, take it! That’s what money is for!
True,
no one should be wasteful — it is important to be a good
steward of your resources.
But
being a good steward isn’t just about hoarding your money and
spending as little as you can. It’s about using your resources
for the things you need to make life run smoothly. And that includes
spending money to fix problems that are just not worth your time and
aggravation, whether or not you could fix them with extra
effort or diligence.
You
don’t get bonus points for not spending money on things you
actually need or for doing everything the hard way.
You
don’t need to burn up your mental and emotional resources on
the inconsequential flotsam of life, like socks. It’s often
worth it to spend extra dollars in order to conserve your emotional
energy for serious stuff, like disobedient children.
This
principle applies to cheap pans that burn your dinner every day,
shoes that kill your back, broken measuring cups in the kitchen, and
other small problems that can be solved with a little money. Bigger
budget items, like cars that need constant repair, obviously require
more planning. But for small items, save yourself the unnecessary
daily aggravation so you can focus your attention on more important
things.
In
other words, socks are not that expensive. Just go get some new ones.
Do
you have a quandary, conundrum, or sticky situation in your life?
Click this button to drop Cyndie a line, and she’ll be happy to
answer your question in a future column. Any topic is welcome!
Cynthia Munk Swindlehurst spent her childhood in New Hampshire and her
adolescence in San Diego. She served a mission in Manaus Brazil. She
graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in English and from
Duke University with a law degree.
She practiced law until her first child was born. She enjoys reading, tap
dancing, and discussing current events. She and her husband live in
Greensboro, North Carolina with their two sons.
Cyndie serves as the Sunbeams teacher in her ward.