Knock, Knock...Socks Here

Perish the thought - am I jumping ahead a little? I packed my daughter for her first day of school today and, fortunately, it is a beautiful sunny day and sandals were our footwear of choice. As I was strapping up, a moment of forethought brought the realization that our sandal days are numbered. Soon, fall and, perish the thought, winter will be upon us, and sandals will be retired or, if worn as intensely as mine, discarded entirely. Sock drawers will be rummaged through - a sigh exhaled over the tired selection and shoes will be withdrawn from their closeted hibernation. Subconsciously, as I write this, my toes have stretched themselves in unusual directions as though already escaping the confines of sock and shoe. Let's pause for a moment of reflective, toe-polished silence...

Now, I believe in getting my life organized in small reasonable chunks. In fact, I have learned this method through years (and years and years) of watching my mother, myself and most friends that I know, experience intense and heart-pounding moments (ney, days) of frustrations because we "can't get it all done", "can't get caught up", "can't get enough help", "can't ________(you place your own complaint)". We can go for years, perhaps our entire lifetime, of not realizing that it's not, in fact, the time/help/circumstance factor that is causing such chaos and disorder in our lives - it is only us. Yes, you. Know that this is no criticism - I don't believe in kicking someone when they're down - it is meant to be the pep talk that I think we've all needed at some point in our lives - as we weep over the mountain of laundry that appears to clone itself, as we curse over the piled up bills that won't file themselves and as we wail to any victim passing within earshot and yet unable to hear. My suggestion, as it pertains to the transition from sandals to socks is this - don't go into the closet believing that the closet needs to be "cleaned up", that the winter clothes shopping needs to be done 'right now!" (save that as a reward for later) and that the bag of donations must be delivered today or the poor sods will freeze - otherwise, this simple transition has already taken on astronomical proportions and your heart rate has already gone up in a non-positive fashion. Busy families can grab 5 minutes at a time, at best, so work with that...

Enter the sock drawer and purge. I am laughing out loud as I realize I knowingly wore mismatched socks last year. A charcoal gray and a light gray pair each lost their respective partners but I said to myself "there's still plenty of wear left in these close friends" and I kept the darn things. With a summer's worth of distance between myself and that stupid decision I can now enter my drawer, locate the not-quite-right pair and toss 'em. But don't stop there - bring the garbage can with you - purge the unsightly, holed, mismatched socks from each drawer in your home. It shouldn't take you more than 5 minutes if you keep yourself focused. Don't even think about opening the t-shirt drawers or, heaven forbid, your undies. Keep your eyes on your feet and plod on...

When you are finished, walk away - know that you have completed a part of the seasons preparatory tasks in a very reasonable time frame.

Break each step of this foot-garnishing ritual into 5-minute challenges. Get the kid(s) involved (if it will help the process rather than hinder it). Set a timer to add extra motivation to keeping it to five minutes and whether the task is done or not, walk away when the timer dings. I enjoy a favourite song rather than a timer because I find myself singing / dancing along and quite enjoying the moment - I walk away when the song is done. If you hit 'repeat' on the stereo, consider that you may have an obsessive-compulsive flaw and should possibly seek professional help.



Suggested 5-minute challenges to get the 'big task' done:
* Empty current closet of all summer wear discarding those too-worn sandals (please don't make me look at them again next year - are you trying to evoke pity from friends?) and keeping the in-good-shape ones in the closet still (gotta wear something until you pull warm shoes out, right?
* When you are next out on errands and anywhere near a clothing retailer (ex. getting diapers at Walmart) then swing around and pick up the socks that you need for the family. Don't get distracted - this is only supposed to add five minutes to your errand.
* Pull out warm footwear and purge too-ratty pairs from each member of the family - make mental note of what needs to be replaced. Give a vacuum or a sweep from their seasonally ignored location.
* When it is now consistently too chilly to hang onto the sandals, grab a laundry basket, pile the summer gear into it and dump about 2 feet away from the winter gears home. Transfer the winter gear into the basket, play a game of toss and match in that deep-closet location with the summer stuff and take the basket of the winter stuff to the most active closet and deposit it. Unless, your family is vigilant about lining things up (again, consider professional help) leave the darn things in a reasonable pile. There is a good chance that is the same pile you will see - and successfully retrieve - your own shoes from for the upcoming season and everyone else seems to do just fine too. Really, you must pick your battles and learn to let the small things go...

For the sake of variety in a day, you can incorporate a couple five-minute challenges from different parts of your home - winter clothes, packing away the outdoor furniture, clearing out the no-longer-used toys, etc so that you feel as though you are making progress in a few areas. As long as progress is made, stop beating yourself up over your unreasonable desire to get-it-all-done. Recognize your strengths - that you are attending to everything in an organized and do-able fashion - pat yourself on the back for that success and grab a coffee.

Send your sock drawer pictures to blogentry@gingerbreadlane.ca or post a comment below - and why not send in your own 5-minute challenge idea?