Wednesday, February 21, 2007

WFMW: The Sock Basket: Part II

I'm a bit... unconventional when it comes to housework, and I come by it honestly: I am my mother's daughter. My mother is the unashamed originator of the sock basket concept within our family, and I improved upon the idea, as outlined in my WFMW: The Sock Solution of three weeks ago. So when I had someone ask, "Where do you keep your sock basket?" I knew futher explanation might be required.

Now, I am very fortunate to have a large laundry room- in fact, it was a prerequisite for us during the Great House Hunt a few years ago. Inside my laundry room, my wonderful husband built lots of shelves for me, which I have filled with baskets, boxes and containers, because I'm a little obsessive about baskets, boxes and containers... But that's a post for another day. Anyway, part of the Sock Plan is that we now have one large sock basket, into which I throw all the kids socks. It worked great... until the boys found out it was much easier to pull the basket off the shelf and dump it onto the floor before getting their socks.

As an aside, I need to explain that my sweet grandmother from Tennessee passed down more than her quirky sense of humor, thyroid problems and Angel Biscuit recipe: we got her all-purpose exclamations of shock and/or disgust too. Choose one, depending upon the circumstance at hand:

a) Well, I'll Swahnee!
b) For Pete's Sake!
c) So help me!
and
d) My Foot!!!

In this case, upon finding the laundry room floor scattered with clean socks, some of which the cat has managed to drag into her litter box, the correct phrase of shock and/or disgust is c) SO HELP ME!!!! And it was in one of those moments that genius struck me:
Yes, I have knotted that basket to the shelf. In three different places. Then I threatened to replace all the boys' white socks with pink and purple socks if I ever see clean socks on the floor again. And that works for me.

9 comments:

Heather @ Marine Corps Nomads said...

That is too funny!! Someday, I'll be blessed with a nice laundry room.

Anonymous said...

Hilarious! I've wanted to tie things in place many times.

Brought to you by Her Majesty Magenta said...

oh I love this idea! I need to go check out your previous WFMW posts about socks as they are the thorn in my side! I wait till I have two laundry baskets full before I attempt to fold. I have even entertained thoughts of having the dementia residents at work fold them for an activity. I am just not sure they would match! And I love the tie the basket down idea. I used to tie a lot of things down when my kids were little even their water bottles (before non drip lids). I attached them to a built in bookcase. LOL

Nikki said...

Simplifying sock life is always a good tip. I love how you tied the basket down! I wonder what else I could tie down . . .

Meliss said...

I can't use the sock basket idea, because my laundry room is too small...but I CAN use the pink and purple sock threat for other purposes :D Very funny!

mira said...

That's a great idea. Or you could take it one step further and let your kids wear mismatched socks. My youngest thinks it's great and color coordinates her socks with her outfits but they are usually different from each other.

2nd Cup of Coffee said...

Hey Sandy! Thanks for commenting on my blog today about prom. I've enjoyed reading your posts, and the sock basket cracks me up. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do!

Amy said...

I'm so jealous of your spacious laundry room. Maybe with the next house! Cute entry!

Sara said...

That is hilarious! Especially the threat of purple and pink socks. Very creative....and effective! I do believe Stephanie has those childbirth books - at least she did two years ago because she mailed them to me in Texas. We did the Bradley class in Texas and I'm hoping just reading it all again will be enough this time. I'd love to hear your birth stories some time. Having been through it five times qualifies John as an expert in my book!