Sock MATH
Socks. What do you think of when you hear this word? Matching or missing? Coordinating or unaccounted for? Crisp and clean winter white, or just fresh from the ball field dirt black! There are bobby socks, crew socks, red socks, blue socks, argyles and anklets, and ones that match baby’s blanket! One thing I KNOW to be TRUE about the innate ability of the “Sock” is that it can complete every math function anytime, without any changing variables, not even with your consent!
Addition – One sock plus one sock equals TWO socks, correct? Preferably they would match in this equation.
Subtraction – The great mystery of life….do I really need to explain?
Multiplication – CHECK, somehow, someway, more and more socks migrate into my home without me ever having to swipe a debit card. We have lovingly become the “Pre-Goodwill drop off” location, because everyone who knows us concludes that “certainly ONE of the Lichnovsky kids will fit into this”. So along with the seasonal migration of hand-me-downs, we are ‘blessed’ with additional socks, by the bucket full.
Division – Now, this one is interesting. Let’s just do the math. One husband – crew socks and black dress socks, two sons – (definitely not the same foot size yet, one is a normal size 4, the other has boat paddles at the end of his legs), two teen daughters (I don’t think they really even know what socks are), and four little girls for whom socks are a daily necessity.
Dividing socks among four different little feet sizes, hoping to find a match can get fairly hysterical. The division happens when my nine year old decides to wear one of the three year old’s socks, and one of the baby’s socks. Whatever will get them out the door, almost always includes wearing someone else’s socks. They will literally divide HUNDREDS of random socks among them, most of the time with me oblivious to it.
I learned long ago to relax when it came to socks. Yes, I do dream of the day I will look down the aisle at church at all my little ducks in a row and see that each of them have on matching socks, but for now, I’m going to enjoy this journey and stay amazed at how sock math works in my home. And, I won’t be afraid to toss a few ‘sock baskets’ away every Christmas and splurge on new ones for my family.
Laundry Mom~Erin♥
I always end up with single socks of every color and variety. It always amazes me that they can go missing in this matter.
When I have finished matching all the socks up, I take the orphans and put them back in the laundry hamper…in hopes that perhaps, just perhaps the prodigal will end up in the hamper too and we will find the lost one.
I don’t know if it is insanity to continue in this fashion or if I should just get the courage to throw them out. Maybe I need to think of some clever way to recycle them.
Either way, it is nice to know that I am not alone in the mystery of Sock Mathematics!
Yes…Regina…YOU are not alone!
I always liked recess better than math anyway 🙂
Oh wow- can I ever relate?! Our “misser-matcher” sock basket as it is lovingly known by is contantly in multiplication mode and oh how I long for some division into pairs. It sounds so simple!