The end of an era

January 16, 2011

Today we took our youngest to his four month old well-baby visit with our pediatrician.  Our appointment went very well.  We chatted with the doctor about a variety of very important topics which seem to come up at most visits with him, such as Wisconsin snow and Kringles (Danish Pastries).  This time a new topic came up as he looked at my feet and noted that I was wearing two different colored socks.  According to our doctor, mis-mached socks are highly popular among his adolescent patience in this generation.  I am not sure exactly what he was hoping to accomplish by telling me this, but I am guessing he was hoping to get a chuckle.  Chuckle I did, but it was more like a "ha...ha....ha?"  I was not sure weather I wanted to laugh or hid my feet in embarrassment.  To genuinely find this funny I would have to think it was funny that I am thirty years old and unknowingly keeping with Adolescent trends.  But to be embarrassed would mean that I am weak and can not laugh about my silliness. 

You see, I began to wear two different color socks long before it was ever trendy or cool to do so.  I grew up in South Florida and in South Florida you only wear socks a few times a year, and those are the days when it is cold enough to wear long pants and no one is going to see your socks but you.  So I always wondered what the point was in matching them.  Socks are socks and they are going to serve their function regardless of my actions.  So I just stopped folding them altogether to eliminate unnecessary work.  As years went by more and more people would catch glimpses of my socks and I became known as "The girl who wears two different color socks."  Being branded as  an artist at a young age, most people who have noticed my socks have accused me of trying to be "Artsy."  (Oh how I hate that word!)  I am writing this to tell you that this is not so.  My sock choices are a pure act of laziness. 

I am sad to say, that my punky sock days might be coming to an end.  I have come to realize how important it is to live and be content with the phase of life you are in, and that means me realizing that I am not a punky teenager anymore and must behave like an adult and wear the same colored socks. If you have known me well over the years and are feeling like a part of me is going to die, please know that deep down inside I will always be the same short, lovable two different socked girl you have always known, I have just fallen prey to insecurities brought on by our unknowing pediatrician.