Pile of Dispair
Like something out of an Indian Jones movie, the “pile of despair” is a trap. The quicksand of the laundry room. It appears innocent, clean socks, what could be harmful with that? But if I get too close to the “pile of despair”, I’m sucked in by its force. Before I know it, I’m hunched over for the next fifteen minutes, caught in a blizzard of endless matches and mismatches. My knees ache and my head spins and I am unable to comprehend why all the socks don’t have mates.
In my perfect world I would raise my family on the shores of a small Caribbean Island. The closest sock would be 100 miles away in Puerto Rico. But no, I’m in Pittsburgh and in the winter the “pile of despair” grows at an alarming rate. My husband alone can go through three pairs of socks in a day – the work-out sock, the work sock, and the evening sock. I feel myself sinking. I gave my daughter the choice of folding ten towels or attacking the “pile of despair”. Secretly I hoped that she would choose the towels. She is too young and pure to be sucked into the pile’s misery.
But just as the pile is reaching my chin, I stroll through the mall. And there, between the haggered 75% off sweater rack and the fresh madras shorts lies the socks greatest nemesis, and thus, my hero. The flip-flop.
Pulling me up and out of the pile, this lowly conqueror appears at my house every spring, offering hope. The socks that just weeks before threatened to bury me, run for cover and stay hidden for months in everyone’s top drawer. The snow and gray skies that have painted the scene outside our windows drag some people down all winter, but for me it is the pile of socks that coats my laundry room floor. When the flip-flops return, not the buds on the trees or tulips in the yard, then I know I’ve made it through winter.
15 Responses to “Pile of Dispair”
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February 27th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
I love flip-flops….I just never thought of them as helping me improve the sock problem..good piont!
February 28th, 2008 at 9:20 am
You just might be on to something, here!
February 28th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
I dread the socks. The washing. The drying. The matching thereof.
February 29th, 2008 at 1:16 am
My winter Yetti is the monster slowly taking over the western half of my bedroom.
March 2nd, 2008 at 12:16 am
Laundry is a huge pain, isn’t it. Can’t wait till summer when everyone is practically naked and you can send kids out for baths in the lawn sprinkler!
March 7th, 2008 at 2:21 am
I’m always losing all of the socks. Before we moved last year my mom came down and helped me get “ALL” my laundry done. Every last piece that had been hiding in every nook and cranny. There were so many socks!!! I had to bag most of them up and give them away. It took us a few hours to match them all up but we did it and only ended up with a few lonely little guys.
March 16th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
I think the worst are the baby socks. They hide and run away. I find them everywhere.
When I saw your piece in Brain, Child I remembered you visited my blog a while back, right before I took the longest blogging hiatus ever. I really liked your take on the debate - I’d never actually thought of it that way, that we are giving treats to our children (and ourselves) just for living life. Good point.
Come to think of it, I did that with some M&Ms just the other day and then posted about it. It was like I needed a reward just for getting through the day.
March 19th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
I may be stunting my children’s fashion sense, but I got tired of all those different socks needing mates. Why do babies need socks to match all their outfits? So now all my kids wear the exact same brand and style of white socks. Of course, I have all boys so it was a pretty easy switch.
April 7th, 2008 at 1:17 am
Oh what a great term, “the pile of despair!” I agree!!
Hey you haven’t posted for a long time……just checking are you ok? Or just busy?????
April 8th, 2008 at 6:35 am
OK, Kathy, did the pile of dispair consume you? I hope and pray that everything is alright.
Sending much love~ :o) mg
April 29th, 2008 at 12:14 am
I just read your essay in Brain, Child and agree with you completely. Thanks for saying it, and so beautifully.
My husband actually goes through more socks than yours — work socks, exercise socks, evening socks, and sleep socks. I guess we’re a perfect match because I actually enjoy matching socks — gives me a sense of satisfaction and completion with every pair. Weird, I know, but true.
April 30th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
I’m hoping all is well with you. It’s been a while since you posted . . .
If you are interested, we are working on assembling some of the Pittsburgh Moms that blog for a little fun. You can go here to read about it.
May 1st, 2008 at 10:01 am
Kathy, your pile of despair rivals mine! I dread the unmatched socks and their missing mates. Right now, my teenaged daughter is wearing a boot (complete with cutches) following her foot surgery, so she’s wearing soccer socks on one foot and Journeys-type cute ones on the other. My mismatched socks no longer get lost in the dryer — they don’t even make it into the washer together!
Hope all is well with you!
June 20th, 2010 at 1:54 pm
plain old cotton socks are still the best for babies.~:;
August 29th, 2010 at 1:36 pm
cotton baby socks and wool baby socks are the best in my experience;’~