The Sock Crisis

Here’s the thing about systems – they don’t actually solve the problem. They don’t make the challenge go away. They do make you feel in control and they do make it easier to put into words what’s not working. But the system itself isn’t magic. It’s the people keeping (or not keeping) that system that hold the keys to success. 

That brings me to the Sock Crisis.

In this house of many children there are many, many socks. Many many boys’ socks. Way back when boy number four was born, I felt I needed a sock system, and quickly.

I had one girl at the time, so that made her system simple. One girl, one bin. Done. For my boys, I needed a new route.

Before making a system, I had to establish a policy. And the policy was: only solid colors. Life is too short to spend so much of your time trying to pair up small dots and big dots and wide stripes and medium stripes without making mistakes.

And then there’s the lost sock issue – when a print sock loses its match, it’s over. Forever. That lone sock has no purpose or meaning in life anymore when it’s one soulmate is gone. 

So with my solid-colors-only policy in place, I created Sock System 1.0.

First, all socks were kept in a bucket in the laundry room, on the first floor. I can see how many we have, when we run low, and I can grab it easily on the way out, for the little toes that go barefoot. 

Second, everyone gets one color. After some research I settled on The Children’s Place solid socks – my oldest wore tan, my second wore grey, my third wore navy, my fourth wore dark green. They were easy to pair, matched almost everything, and best of all – when someone left their socks in middle of the kitchen or on the couch, I knew exactly whose it was.

Sock crisis solved.

Not really.

It was managed, that’s for sure. It required very little upkeep. 

Until The Children’s Place had the audacity to change its sock line without consulting me first.

I watched my sock system crumble before my eyes when I went to the store and discovered that they no longer were making the grey, brown or tan socks.i even spoke to the manager. 

I scoured the internet for another brand that make different appropriate solid colors, another for my four little boys, and there was none.

I needed a new sock system. 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0 came and went.

By the time boy number 9 joined the team, I was on sock system 6.0.

With that many socks in circulation, I needed a simple, easy and most important, hard for the kids to mess up, system.

The policies were the same; it had to be simple and had to be easy to maintain.

The socks still stayed in bins in the laundry room. Downstairs; easy to grab, easy to see where they are and how many we have. Solid colors only.

I was able to group the kids into three sizes so it was easy to buy a lot of each and easy to  pair them. If one went missing, they have another few dozen mates to look for. The three groups have easy  recognizable differences; black, navy and grey toed black.For three years, the system ran smoothly.

It required only two bins; one for grey tipped and one for black and blue socks.

(I admit, this is very different from my two year old daughter’s sock drawer of purple, pink, grey, yellow, turquoise, sage, mint, ruffle, lace and many other types of socks. I can’t help it.)

But systems don’t take away problems, they just make it easier to manage.

And exactly one week ago, I walked into the laundry room and was greeted by all the socks emptied out. On the floor. Like a big rug, I didn’t think much of it; I figured someone was in a rush and reminded the little people in this house how it works.

Today is day #6. Apparently, some little people like to spread out the contents of the bins on the floor to find the one they want (even though they’re all the same.) I’ve begged and pleaded with these little rulers of my home to keep the system. 

And now I have two choices – install a security camera to get to the bottom of this or move on to system 6.0.

Before I even finish the thought, somehow I’m already on Facebook marketplace looking for the perfect set of drawers to put in my laundry room to solve this crisis and polish up my system. Because truth be told, I love creating systems. Maybe a little too much.

And a system will get rid of the issue, right? 

Deep down, I know the truth. Systems are as successful as the people keeping them want them to be. Systems don’t determine the outcome, the people involved do. Especially when it’s little people who are more determined or stubborn than me. 

Maybe I should install that security camera after all.