What a difference a sock can make

January 10, 2009

“It is not so important where one settles down. The best thing is to follow your instincts without too much reflection.”

-Albert Einstein

Summer is easy. Flip flops for every outfit.

Winter and school are another story.

Each morning, we have a sock meltdown. K is very particular about how the seam in her socks lines up on her foot. I adjust it and readjust it over and over and over, while she pulls at it and cries. She is miserable wearing socks. It broke my heart to put something on her that seemed like torture. I finally found the solution.

Comfort seam socks!

Stride Rite makes socks that don’t have a machine seam in them. They are stitched by hand or something like that. The closest Stride Rite to us is an outlet store and is about a 40 minute drive. So on Monday, I piled the girls in the car, swung by and picked up my mom and we headed to the outlet mall. I called ahead to make sure they had the socks because I didn’t want to make the trip for nothing.

We got there and mom took the kids to ride one of the mechanical rides. I think they picked an ice cream truck.

The selection wasn’t what I hoped. Apparently, I’m not the only mom who has a child with this problem. They did have a couple of styles for me to choose from and they came in multiple colors. The selection itself was good, they just didn’t have many in her size. They are sized differently from other socks as well. Each sock fits a smaller range of feet. That was the other problem we had with some socks. They were too big at the toe because they fit such a large range of feet. That just meant more discomfort at her toes. So I picked some turn cuff socks and some no show socks. The turn cuff were a 3 pack of navy, white and pink. Perfect for her school colors. They didn’t have just white in her size (10-13, must be pretty popular), so that’s why I also picked up a pair of the no peak socks as well. They are perfect for her tennis shoes.

I said a little prayer that this would be the answer to her misery and headed to the register. I also picked up a pair of cute plaid flip flops for her this summer.

I took the socks out to the car and tried them on her right away. She was very hesitant to try them on, knowing her hate/hate relationship with socks in general. Much to her surprise, they were comfortable!

I washed them and put on a pair for her to wear to school on Tuesday. I prepared myself for the sock and shoe battle just before she heads out the door each morning. Tuesday was a magical day. There was absolutely no complaining. Her socks and shoes went on without a hitch. I was amazed. She has worn socks for the last 4 days with no issues.

It was well worth the trip to the outlet that day!