A few months ago at a family gathering someone noticed that Cameron’s socks didn’t match. Laughingly one of the other women asked me why? “Is the other one lost in the laundry?”
“No”, I replied, “there isn’t another one, these are just the same size so I put them together.”
She wasn’t sure I was serious, laughed some more and the conversation went on.
But really, why do my boys wear mismatching socks? Is it because of money, because I’m a hoarder, because I don’t care enough to match socks?
It is true that matching socks isn’t my favorite chore (hey, maybe I could pay Seth to do it….) but that isn’t why. We can afford to buy more socks and I really hope I’m not a hoarder. This is the biggest reason:
Use it up.
Wear it out.
Make it do
Or go without.
This quote is hanging my grandpa’s kitchen. I remember my grandma telling it to me several times while she was alive.
My grandma taught me to use up all the leftovers, to wear out the clothes and then turn the remaining material into quilt scraps or rags and to make do with the ingredients that she had by making soup. I don’t remember going without at her house, but now as a mother I know how easy it is to go without and put everyone else first and I’m sure my grandma practiced selflessness many, many times in her life.
The reason my boys wear mismatching socks, hand me down clothes and clothes with stains? Because I want them to learn the same lessons my grandma taught me. I want them to practice using what they have until it is worn out. I want them to respect their nice church clothes and value them. I want them to know the ethics of hard work, earning money and spending it on clothing that is truly needed.
My boys wear mismatching socks to build their character.
Just because one sock has a hole doesn’t mean you throw both away. Keep the good one and wait for another similar sock to need a match as well. The good socks still have plenty of wear left in them and they might not look exactly the same, but it’s okay. Use what you have.
Have you heard this quote before?
Use it up.
Wear it out.
Make it do
Or go without.
How are you teaching your children to value what they have? I would love to hear your ideas for instilling character and values in littles. 🙂
I love this! We have the same problem in our house….not one pair matches.
Haha. My friends find the boys socks at their houses after we leave and I always wonder how I missed that they weren’t wearing socks when we left. :p
ours too! Must be a ” boy thing!”
My kids wear mismatched socks because the little boogers won’t be bothered to keep up with the pairs!! They are perfectly good socks, they just don’t match because I can’t find matching ones and am not about to constantly throw out socks whose only issue is not having a matching mate. Waste not, want not! 🙂
We even reuse aluminum foil if it is not heavily soiled and sticky, just wash, rinse and dry. My mom passed that one down. 🙂
Yes! Most of the time we find two that look similar if they do have to wear mismatching ones, if thry look too different I won’t put them together.
Thanks for the tips about foil, hadn’t thought about doing that.
I just buy socks where ALL of them match. Problem solved 🙂
That would work. I’ve only ever had to buy the socks myself two or three times and when I did I didn’t think practical thoughts like that. 🙂 I was like “look at all the cute car and truck socks.”
Ben’s youngest siblings are only a couple years older than my boys, so we get awesome hand me downs all the time with socks included. 🙂
I love your grandma’s quote! Great to keep that attitude going. My son’s socks never match mainly b/c he stubbornly picks them out that way. That’s not a battle I choose to fight 🙂
I will not let Mr. T leave the house with clothes that are stained, no matter how many times he tries to get that one shirt past me! But he knows it is a good one to hang out around the house in!
Oh yes, I should have mentioned that, they don’t leave the house in clothes with holes and lots of stains. 🙂 Those are kept for outdoor play and chores.
My boys wear mismatched socks because I can’t seem to keep up with the laundry! But also because I am not overly concerned with what people think of my children’s “sense” of fashion. As if they have one (I have 1 and 2 year old boys)! 🙂 I don’t have much of one either.
I like your Grandma’s quote. I had never heard it. I definitely could do better teaching my children the value of things or rather instilling them with a spirit of thankfulness.
I think every momma struggles with laundry, it is something that gets dirty everyday. 🙂 And if your boys are like mine, they might go through more than one outfit each day. 🙂
My 3-yr-old is at the “I will dress myself” stage. Nothing matches. I had to buy all white socks for him to wear to school because he refused to let me help him pick matching socks. Lol!
That works! I have two brother-in-laws a little older than my Sethboy and so we get all their clothes when they outgrow them, I very rarely have to buy them anything including socks or undies unless we are on vacation and run out of something. And when that does happen I forget practicality and go for the cute car and truck socks rather than plain ones like you. I’ll try to remember this for next time I need to get socks though, it would probably help the matching department. 🙂