The Cat's Out of the Bag

As parents, we try our best to raise our children right and give them a good example to follow. However, the human fallibility factor loves to pop up every now and then—sometimes in the funniest ways. I know I’m not immune to such moments, but I swear I get more than my fair share sometimes! A perfect example occurred this month at my house.

I don’t know about your children, but my children dislike socks. If their shoes aren’t on, their little piggies are bare and racing around the house. I can’t even remember the number of times we have come home from a friend or relative’s home minus a sock or two because my kids had stripped their feet as soon as we were in the door, without looking to see where their socks had landed.

In the winter time, it’s a constant battle trying to convince them that they would be warmer if only their socks stayed on their feet. And the majority of the time, I lose these battles and am left with barely worn socks strewn about our house…much to my exasperation.

For years, I have worked with my kids to try to get them to clean up after themselves. And happily, we are making leaps and bounds every day. But for some reason, those darn socks keep ending up all over--behind furniture, under cushions, stuffed in corners, and lurking in the unlikeliest places. With semi-dirty socks scattered throughout our home, it’s not our washer or dryer’s fault usually when a mate goes missing.

Since we moved into our own home near the end of last year, I decided that this was one bad habit we were going to break! At first, my children grumbled and moaned every time I reminded them that dirty socks belong only in the hamper. In time, though, it was becoming more and more like second nature to them, and more socks were ending up in the dirty laundry without a single word from me. Victory!

Then, this month, I noticed something strange: I was finding tons of my children’s socks all over the house, from the kitchen to the bathroom to their bedrooms! Suffice it to say, I was not amused at all. Day after day, I went around the house picking up socks, and time and time again, I sat down with my kids and explained why I wasn’t happy. My displeasure grew more and more as my kids continued to deny that they weren’t the ones who left their socks lying around.

Finally about a week or so ago, I was about to snap! How could my kids deny that they had left their socks around the house? Who else would be leaving them all about? I strongly believed that someone had to be lying because there simply wasn’t any other explanation. I was going to get to the bottom of this!

Just as I was about to confront my kids yet again about their dirty socks, I heard a strange noise in the bathroom. Curious, I started down the hall. As I neared the bathroom doorway to investigate, a black furry blur bolted between my feet, dragging one of my dirty socks behind him! It was our kitten Mr. Fuzzy. He had stolen one of my dirty socks out of the hamper and was taking off with it like it was some prized catch. I was beside myself with utter shock.

Immediately, my son poked his head out of his bedroom, looked up at me with his big blue eyes, and sighed, “See, Mommy; I told you we weren’t the ones putting socks everywhere!”