Why I Love Sandals

By: Beth Duncan

Sandal season is in full swing, and I am so relieved. I expressed this to my husband recently while we were unwinding after the kids were in bed. We were sitting on the couch in front of the T.V., and I was folding clothes.

As I commented on the wonders of sandals, my husband slowly moved his gaze from the movie we were watching to me. He gave me that amused look that he gives me when I’ve said something unusual. I see the look frequently, actually. I could tell he was interested in what motivated my comment, so I continued.

“Sandal season means a dramatic decrease in the number of socks I have to sort through and pair up.”

He laughed out loud. Single socks were in a pile on the couch beside me. Some were lined up on the couch, waiting for their pairs to be found. There were so many that some had actually fallen onto the floor below.

You see, I have four children who think that if a sock has been worn at all, even for just an hour or so, it is dirty and should be left on the floor for Mother to come by and pick up so that it can be washed.

I always procrastinate on folding the socks. They build up for days sometimes. I do mean days. Honestly, it is like a small mountain right there on the couch. Laundry is by far the biggest chore in our household. It never, ever ends. Not for one single day.

As a girl dreaming of my wonderful married life with children that lie ahead, I would never have imagined so much laundry. I knew I would cook and wash many dishes and vacuum and sweep, but I didn’t know laundry would be number one on the job description list. It’s tedious and terribly time consuming.

After getting everything put away in the dresser drawers, closets and on hangars, I came back to tackle the socks again. There were as many without pairs as there were with. In some cases, I had to study them to decide which child they belonged to. I started pairing them with a similar mate, not exactly the same. The color may be off a little, but that’s okay, right? There were still about twenty leftover.

I pushed the twenty into a small pile in the corner of the couch. They would form the foundation for the new pile. Who knows, maybe their long lost mates were simply still dirty and they would be reunited the next day. I smiled a little, thinking of what I’d accomplished while watching the movie. The couch was nearly clean. I looked over at my husband, who was completely engrossed in the on-screen action. I was trying to multi-task, but I realized that I didn’t really know what was going on in the movie. I miss so much in life because of my mundane chores. But, take heart, I tell myself. Sandal season is finally here. I guess I’d better go repaint my toenails.