Q. Do you have a limit per person of socks? Does each kid a different color? Do you keep them in separate drawers for each child? I had a friend tell me once about a "sharpie dot on the heel" system, using different color sharpie dots as to differentiate "sizes". Do you guys do anything special?
A. Large family sock organization is usually a dreadful subject to that will knock the socks off of most any large family mama...but not in this house. After many tries, we have it worked out! Each child has either a "Rubbermaid" drawer system in their closet or a dresser in their room where they store clothing items. The two oldest boys (Ethan and Trey) share socks, so they just get whatever's clean from their drawer. The two oldest girls (Annalise and Kaitlyn) also share, but they are now in two different rooms and have two different laundry days/times, so theirs end up back in their drawers after washing. Julia and Ellie also share and just grab what's clean. Eva is slightly bigger than Emmaleigh, so I can still tell whose is whose. That leaves Jake and Judah....they are both smaller than the older two boys, but still different in size, so I can tell by eyeing it, whose is whose. I do limit but by eyeing it, rather than putting a number on it. If they seem to be running out in between loads of laundry or I've tossed a few more socks than usual, I'll bring out the extra bag and open them up!
Some Tips:
The biggest help I've found is pairing up laundry days, older with a younger. That way, telling whose items are whose is so much easier.
We buy socks during the Big Lots 20% off sales and LOVE those prices. We stock up and keep extras on hand for that day when you notice that some of the boys' socks look like Swiss cheese!
I keep a unmatched sock back for each size and when the first unmatched sock unearths from the pile of clean clothes, I check for a match IMMEDIATELY. If there is no match, I add it to the bag. If I notice that one brand sock has been in there for months, I chuck it. That makes mismatched socks NO MORE!
Mark, having served in the Navy, always wanted us to use mesh laundry bags with a zipper that you can throw your socks into and just wash. That's a cool idea, too. But...never tried it!