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Friday, October 18, 2013

Socks and Me


Most every day I put on socks, there is a sock crisis. I am the Princess and the Pea but with socks instead of a mattress. Nothing feels right on my feet most days. Before I can walk, I have to take off my shoes a half dozen times to straighten my socks so they feel right. Finally, I gave up on cute socks. I buy bags of white socks and bags of black socks. So, there are two colors--no pink. But, I cannot put on a pair unless the right sock goes on the right foot and the left sock on the left foot. I can tell by looking which sock went on which foot even after wearing for the first time and washing a pair.

You know I cannot tell right from left, so those terms never enter my mind. But, I can tell which toe is longest on each foot and can see the big bump on the sock and which side it is on.

Then, at the same time, I have to put a worn right sock with a worn left sock--a holey right sock with a holey left sock, a newish right sock with a newish left sock. There are also socks with slightly grayish bottoms where I went barefoot on the porch or dirty floor. Some socks from the same bag are different at the top. The quarter inch "band" sock must go with the other quarter inch "band" sock. Some bands are not 1/4 inch but more like 5/16 inch. Others are nearer 3/16.  Some of the bands in the same bag have a slightly wider rib. I do this extreme sorting after doing laundry so the socks will be okay when I start to put a pair on.

Honest, my feet can tell the difference. Can yours?

I am not that particular, but my feet are. Plus, I cannot bear to discard a sock with just  a few holes. I am not hoarding it. It has just gotten to the point it feels realllly good. Socks and I have a complicated relationship. And, this is not OCD. It is a foot-feel thing.

One day, I was sitting here, taking my socks and shoes off and on one at a time, changing socks from one foot to the other, slipping on my shoe, pulling off the shoe, pulling out the toe of my sock and twisting the foot of the sock a bit...over and over. . I would make a sound very time---"uh," in a little voice, just like a kid. All this time I was chatting with exbf. He was sitting on the sofa opposite me, watching me. Finally, he said, "What are you doing?" I collapsed in gales of laughter at my own silliness and dilemma. I did not know he did not know. My face was warming as a blush surely spread. Except, I never blush, just feel warmth spread over my face.

About ten years ago I hurt/strained my back somehow (not what I have now) and had to be helped on and off the bed for about three days. The friend who was helping me had to put socks on me because my feet needed socks, and I could not reach my feet. He pulled the socks too tight. The pain in my back was so bad, I could not form a sentence.

NOW, my toes were being strangled and they screamed in my head. I was gasping for breath to talk, but all I could say because of back pain was "toes." He kept yanking my socks tighter against my toes, while I just tried to shriek. No sounds came out. I gasped, "Toes." and he yanked harder. I thought I had made a face that would clue him in that the toes hurting were the problem.  My toes kept screaming in pain as they were forcibly bent. Once again, I tried to communicate and he tried to help me. Finally, in anger and desperation, I managed to gasp and wail, "Toes hurt." Then, "Loosen!"

He laughed a whole lot more than necessary that day. He could barely pull my socks off my toes for laughing. He said he liked his socks pulled tight, but he could not understand how I could stand them so tight. Well, I couldn't.

My daughter NOW knows I don't like tight socks on my toes. When I go into the nursing home, she can make sure I have loose socks on my feet.

Before I told her about my relationship with socks, she was saying it takes her teen son forever to get his socks and shoes on where they feel right every morning before school. They looked fine to her.  I begged her to be patient and told her my sock dilemma. She thought it was pretty funny and strange. So, he inherited my toes. Thankfully, I don't wear the size shoe he does--13. Do you have a child with particular feet?

Now that it is getting cold, I have to think about socks...sigh. There are still a couple of months of sandal weather out there, thankfully!

Your turn
Do you find that socks cause problems for your feet and toes? Does a wrinkle drive you crazy like it does me? How do like your socks to fit your toes--snug or a little floppy? I know that I like mine "just right" but floppy is better than tight. How about you?


21 comments:

  1. I'll take floppy over tight, but don't really care for that either.
    I'm having a dickens of a time right now with a new pair of shoes--seems it emphasizes the seam on my socks and it drives me batty.
    I can't get that seam to lay where it should.
    Hubby wears his socks tight as a drum. I don't know how he does it!

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    1. Sue,
      I am with you, floppy over tight, but don't care for either. At least, I am not panicky over loose. The shoes--they would go back to the store! Nope, I don't understand those tight sock wearers/

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  2. No. I hate socks in general. When I am forced to wear them, (for running or due to cold) they must be the no show (stop just below ankle) type. I am short, so always wear heels, (except when I run.) I don't like the way a sock looks with my shoes, and I cannot bearthe feel of high socks. "Yes " to old with old, newer with newer.

    Ah, but BEDSHEETS.....my particular requirements in that area makes you and your sock preference look quite reasonable! And no, it is NOT ocd. There are certain things that simply must be the way I want them to be, and my bedsheets (and butter) are some of them!

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    1. Meg B.,
      It is getting chilly enough I might be forced to wear socks one of these days. It is still sandal weather here.

      Bedsheets and butter--that made me laugh.

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  3. Wrinkles in my socks used to be a big source of irritation. I always hated winter with the added sock issue. BUT whenever I went to the hospital, I insisted on wearing those ultra soft knee socks. Out of fear, I was always chilly and trembling, and those socks gave me comfort.

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    Replies
    1. lj,
      Being in FL would sort of help with my sock issue because I would be able to wear sandals all year long! I like socks when I sleep because I wake if there is a draft on them, even from turning over in bed. I love the cold of the hospital rooms, but always ask for socks and a heated blanket. Well, I don't ask for a heated blanket. But, they give me one when I ask for a blanket. The heated blanket does seem to relieve anxiety for me. I also ask for socks if I did not wear socks to the hospital.

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  4. When I was in my twenties, I was relatively oblivious to anything going on with my feet. Anything was comfortable including peds with high heels. After years of being a nurse and being on my feet a fair bit, comfort became more important to me. Now, although I am not diabetic and do not have vascular problems, I really don't like uncomfortable shoes OR uncomfortable socks. I wear sandals a fair bit but outside I wear a variety of short leather boots which I change in and out of throughout the day. This lets the interior of the shoes air and dry when I am not in them. I buy "diabetic" white socks from the internet because I am convinced that they are better made and the elastic is not too tight. I think I am allergic to latex now, and that some of the elastic in socks is latex related. I just have to be comfortable or I can't get all my work and errands done.

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    Replies
    1. This problem has been going on for years. I can remember being small, like 6, and hating how my shoes and socks bothered me every minute of the day at school.

      Ugly shoes are preferable to uncomfortable shoes! Sandals are my preferred shoes, always, even when it is cold.

      I don't have diabetes either, but I look at the socks for diabetics and consider buying them. The top of the sock looks floppy. Sometimes, I sort of push the tops or the socks down because they leave a mark on my leg. Comfort is a big thing with me, too.

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  5. I do my very best not to wear socks. I overheat easily, and if my feet are hot, I am hot. (And being hot exacerbates all my symptoms.) If I absolutely have to wear them, loose socks every time.
    And just the thought of wearing socks in bed gives me the horrors.

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    Replies
    1. C, I hear you on the heat. My head and sinuses get all stuffed up. I love socks in bed. I never wore socks in bed until the last 25 years or so. My bedroom is cold in the winter. Then, I started wearing them in the summer in bed. Even if I have enough covers to keep my feet warm, if I move a toe, I move it to a cold spot. That wakes me up, so it is socks even for a nap.

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  6. Now that I live in such a warm place, I rarely wear socks. Favorite Young Man had sock problems when he was young. He always said, There are strings in my socks!

    Love,
    Janie

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    1. Janie,
      LOL I have felt those strings. They are there. I feel for him....lol...

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    2. He hasn't complained about his socks for at least 25 years.

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    3. Janie,
      I had some socks about ten years ago that really did have strings. They get between your toes. I got rid of those socks, gave them to my daughter who was not bothered by them. So, that settled that. I am glad that's over for him.

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  7. I don't have much issue with socks, but my DH sounds just like you!...and he is a bit OCD, so I figured it was just one of his OCD quirks.

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    1. One Family,
      I don't have an OCD bone in my body. One of my friends says she and her granddaughter are the same way with socks. Her daughter was so worried about her daughter/the granddaughter. My friend reminded her that sock problems existed. We think the issue skips a generation.

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  8. I wonder if you have extra nerve endings in your toes.

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  9. I have a similar relationship with shoes. My feet have become so sensitive that I practically only wear Birkenstock s.They might not be pretty but they sure are comfortable!

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    Replies
    1. Janet,
      I know lots of people who only wear Birkenstocks--men and women. Comfort is the key to any show at my age...lol.

      Delete
  10. Hi Linda - I'm a friend of Judy's. I just wanted to let you know that having socks feel "right" can be a sign of giftedness, I kid you not. My daughter was tested for giftedness when she was in Gr. 2 or 3 - I did some research and some of the quirks of the gifted are having socks, mittens, sleeves etc feel "just right". It used to drive me crazy when she was getting ready for school - adjusting, readjusting ...it went on and on til I'd had to drive her to school because she'd missed the bus. Nothing could hurry her along.
    Jane

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Okay, hoping the annoyances have gone away.