Equality and socks

June 24, 2013 by The Minnesota Farm Woman

We have his and hers jobs here at our house. He takes the outside, such as mowing, weed whacking, and snow removal. I take the inside jobs like bathrooms, floors, and laundry. As long as there is not a foot of snow underneath the clothesline, I prefer to hang the laundry outside, which is my time to think. I really like doing laundry. I love to match towel to towel, shirt to shirt, each one attached to the other, his next to his, mine next to mine. Before you think I have a borderline obsessive-compulsive disorder, hanging them like this makes it more convenient for folding them and putting them away, which brings me to the socks. I like to match up the socks as I hang them on the line. My socks are easy. I have eight pair of ankle length tennis socks, all in black. All the same. Fashionista I am not, but most of my work pants are black, and black goes well with jeans, so black it is. HE has 106 pair of white cotton athletic socks, all different lengths, all different brands. I hang each wet sock at the edge of the clothes basket until I find the mate, all the while being eaten alive by swarms of voraciously hungry mosquitoes and surrounded by curious chickens, who think that every container carried out the back door is something for them to eat. I wish they would develop appetites for both socks and mosquitos. Each week I give my life’s blood to match up the white socks, and each week I end up with a lot of mosquito bites and a mismatched pair or an extra sock, and it drives me crazy. (OK, perhaps there is a SLIGHT case of obsessive compulsive disorder here. ) Last week I decided to take action. I used the mismatched socks as cleaning rags, and I THREW THEM AWAY after used them. I can hear the horrified judgemental gasps from the “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without” crowd, but before you judge, I must tell you that these were not the newest socks in the bunch, nor were they in the best shape. HE is definitely in the “wear it out” category of the crowd. My sneaky plan is to sneak an older sock or two out of each week’s laundry until all the socks match. Although I was slightly exaggerating the number of socks he owns, he may still run out eventually. I will then go shopping for more: Eight pair, all white cotton, all matching exactly. It will sure make life easier.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged hanging laundry outsine, laundry, MN Farm Woman | 14 Comments

14 Responses

on June 24, 2013 at 8:30 am | Reply Terri

Several years ago I switched my husband to all matching athletic socks….so much easier! And my almost-grown son now wears all-matching socks of a different color, to tell them apart. I must be a little OCD myself. But try this….match them up when you take them out of the washer, before you head out to the clothesline….so much easier than being mosquito bait outside!

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- on June 24, 2013 at 8:57 am | Reply The Minnesota Farm Woman
  
  Good idea! Thanks for reading. Chris
  
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on June 24, 2013 at 12:52 pm | Reply Tommajean

For Christmas, two years ago, my daughter bought my husband 40 pairs of identical socks. Then threw out every pair of mis-matched, one-of-a-kind, don’t know what happened to the other one, pair in his drawers. She does the laundry, and yes, she is OCD! But, she is much happier now.

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- on June 24, 2013 at 6:43 pm | Reply The Minnesota Farm Woman
  
  Wow! That was a great gift!!
  
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on June 25, 2013 at 4:56 am | Reply Emma Ann Weatherly

Oh, Chris – what joy you’ve brought to my morning! I share your slight (?) ocd… and magnetic personality for mosquitoes, and probably most importantly, love for things to match up. I, too, have been known to toss mis-matched socks in the trash; please don’t tell Wilt. I’ve had a post rumbling around in my head for weeks about Wilt’s non-fashionista status (let’s not talk about my 10 pairs of all-the-same-brand-white-no-cuff-socks) and perhaps today will pen it. Or type it. Or keyboard it. Or whatever we do now that lets us share our connection over the miles. Keep writing, Girl; you make my day!

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- on June 25, 2013 at 5:58 pm | Reply The Minnesota Farm Woman
  
  Yep. Long lost sisters, we are.
  
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  - on July 5, 2013 at 8:22 pm Deb Weyrich-Cody
    
    Hi you two! Mosquito bait #3 here; ) Normally I try to avoid bananas and eat more citrus in bug season (blew it last week and paying BIG TIME now): Try to avoid wearing black/navy clothes as they’re also a biter-attractant (they LOVE my DH’s dark hair – so I try to take him everywhere with me when outside; )
    BTW, I think you have to be at least a little OCD to hang a beautiful line of laundry (like mine; ) LOL!
    LOVED this one, thanks: )
    
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  - on July 6, 2013 at 7:35 am The Minnesota Farm Woman
    
    Thanks for reading…and I didn’t know about the bananas!
    
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  - on July 6, 2013 at 7:52 am Deb Weyrich-Cody
    
    : )
    
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on June 25, 2013 at 4:49 pm | Reply Alison

Yet even with all the same white socks purchased at the same time there us still a matching issue! I’ve noticed some are darker after being worn around the house in spite of stain treatments! Sack!

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- on June 25, 2013 at 6:11 pm | Reply The Minnesota Farm Woman
  
  So true! Thanks for reading.
  
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on June 25, 2013 at 6:45 pm | Reply Renee Thompson

I hang my socks in pairs too! I leave a space for the mate when I hang one if I can’t find it right away. 😉 I hang my clothes just like you do. OCD to some but sensible to us!

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- on June 26, 2013 at 4:25 am | Reply The Minnesota Farm Woman
  
  I just KNEW I wasn’t the only one! Thanks for reading.
  Chris
  
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on July 18, 2013 at 5:50 pm | Reply Light brown hair

Recently heard that dryer sheets are good repellents. Somehow buying them to stuff in your socks while hanging clothes seems ironic. LOL Always fun to read you tales, my friend. 🙂

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