YOU get a friend, YOU get a friend,

"e-v'ry-body. Gets. A. Frieeeeeend!" I sang from the laundry room in my best imitation of Oprah. Sofia came running over.
"Ooooh, mama, can I clip some socks, too?" she asked, matching my excitement.
"Sure, baby. Grab a clip and jump in." I said, passing her a pair of socks and a sock clip.

I explained to her that I was trying to match the socks on their way into the dryer so that could have a friend with them and not be lonely.

"So we have to find them a friend?" she asked. I continued matching and clipping socks before tossing them into the dryer.
"Yup." I said. "But they have to be the same."

Sofia grabbed a clip between her skinny little fingers and exercised her super-girl strength to pry the edges open and over the cuff of a pair of socks. I had to help her out to get it the rest of the way, and then on we went,  matching the remaining socks in the washer.

Amazingly, this scene is not the fictional creation of my deepest domestic-related fantasies. It happened. For real's. Tonight. It turns out that, much like adults, a shiny new "gadget" gets my kids excited about helping out with the most mundane tasks. Even sorting socks.

Let me explain.

A few weeks ago I purchased these washer/dryer safe sock clips called sock cops. They are exactly what they sound like they are, little clips designed to be placed over a pair of socks to keep them together through out the entire laundry process. You can even keep them on when you take them out of the dryer and store them in your sock drawer that way, taking them off only when you're ready to wear the socks. And then, before you toss them in the laundry basket you can reclip them and the cycle starts all over again.

Yeah, yeah, I know. This seems a bit extreme to make sure I don't have a bunch of unmatched socks sitting around, waiting for their perfect mate to come along so they can be worn. I am well aware of this. Nevertheless, it makes me happy to have them. Even happier, still, that my daughter would be as excited as I am about the prospect of perfectly matched socks the next time she needs a pair. I'm sure this giddiness is only temporary but that's okay.  I can use them for clothes pins the next time I need to hang the cloth diapers out in the sun.