The Sock Basket

Ever wonder what happens to the socks when they go through the laundry? I mean you know they are all paired off when you start washing clothes. Where do they go? Is there a monster in the dryer? Well, we keep a basket near the dryer and throw all the lonely single socks in there. We throw them in there until the basket is overflowing with socks - literally.

The other day, I asked my teenager to go through the sock basket. We kind of take turns sorting the socks, looking for complete pairs, throwing out holey ones, etc.  If we don't find a mate, we just throw the sock back in there hoping that one day we will find it.  Nobody wants to do the sorting (which is why the basket gets so full). I am not sure why we don't want to do it. It's not a big deal really.  Just dump the socks on the rug or the sofa while you're watching TV and get it done. So the teenage boy is doing this task and it's taking FOREVER. Not because it's tedious, but because he doesn't want to do it. He found my favorite pink footie socks - the ones I used to call my lucky bowling socks (yay).  He also found a few pairs of his sister's socks, but he is dragging the whole thing out and making a mountain out of a mole hill.  Not only is he dragging it out, but he has a bad attitude about it.  No, it's not a big deal but he just doesn't want to do it. My husband and I smile at each other behind his back and choose to ignore the attitude.

The sock basket duty has me thinking though.  I'm thinking about the figurative sock baskets in my life. The places where I let little things pile up - like sending the check to the charity organization that I let talk me into a donation.  I mean I pledged (probably shouldn't have but the guy was so darn charming on the phone), then I got the envelope in the mail, then I started getting reminder calls - EVERY DAY. What's the big deal about writing the check? I am not sure - would just rather write it for anything else at the moment.  There are other things in my sock basket too - like the friend I haven't spoken to in a long while and intend to call (soon), or the weeds I keep meaning to pull, or the refrigerator I should clean out, or the closet in the basement that needs organizing.  I find a dozen things to do instead.  But just like my real sock basket, the more I let things pile up, the bigger they become.

Today, I am committing to going through all my sock baskets to see what's in them. If there's something that doesn't fit into my life, I need to let it go.  I might find a few surprises though - like something that makes me feel good, or more importantly, something that makes someone else feel good.

What's in your sock basket?