Attack of the Sock Monster

Just when I think it's safe (duh-nuh!) to go back into the sock drawer (duh-nuh!) the sock-eating monster strikes again...(Dah-nuh-nuh-nuh!)

I like to blame the fact that I never have enough socks on my Southern California roots — like who really needs socks when it's 70 degrees?

But now that I live in the Northeast, I have to take socks a lot more seriously. It's a matter of toe survival.

Unfortunately for my three children, I'm responsible for their sock drawers, too, which means they never have enough socks. Last fall when I was completely overwhelmed and distracted over our baby Miles' teeny weenie infant socks, Julia and Henry resorted to wearing mismatched socks.

So in the spirit of "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em," I stocked up on a brand of adorable socks that are intentionally mismatched (littlemissmatched.com) — they even come in sets of three.

But what kind of mother not only lets, but encourages, her children to wear mismatched socks? Our mismatched sock system was exposed at a family holiday party when a well-meaning hostess tried to help me find Julia's "other sock."

"That's strange," she said as we dug through the socks strewn on the floor by the kids. "I don't see the match to her sock anywhere."

She looked shocked when Julia picked up a completely different sock and said, "Here it is!"

I quickly tried to explain that these socks were made that way. She looked dubious.

Even a tenderfoot like me knew it was time to get professional help, so I consulted Jill Pollack (jillpollack.org), a professional organizer whose clients are movie stars who need help organizing accessories I wish I had.

Jill offered up two simple solutions to our sock problem:

"First, you need to have two weeks' worth of socks. Second, to solve the matching problem, create a pattern sock drawer and an all-white drawer. That way they can wear matching socks from the all-white drawer when you want them to and those cute mismatched socks on more casual days. If their dressers don't have enough drawers, buy a drawer divider."

And so far, our new system seems to be keeping the sock monsters at bay.