sock study

Today I was busy and so decided that I would not take my camera with me when I drove (late) into work - thus I would avoid the temptation to loiter on roadsides and blip. Of course today the sky paraded colours and lustres Michelangelo would dream of for the Sistine Chapel. Shapes and light shimmered through the sky and over the sea like the dreams of a psychedelic angel.

Bah

Anyone can take pictures of bloomin' skies. Not everyone can take pictures of socks.

There is however a story with the socks.

I have been on teacher training placement. Those who are or who live with teachers will not that we are not bad lazy people but good hardworking people who, while training, work from before dawn to after disk writing and planning for the educational benefit of our young folk.

My J is a tower of strength during these times and does everything - cooks, launders, walks the dog, homework with the children, cleans, talks to the rest of the world while I type, type, plan, teach, worry, fret and bleat. In these task he is very talented and uncomplaining. The only down side is that he is unable to do socks. If he were my pupil I would say that he is decidedly not a visual learner. He cannot observe, size, pattern, shape or colour. By the time my four week placement comes to an end there is not a matched pair of socks in the house and if there are then they are in the wrong drawer.

Today was sock matching day. I matched 57 pairs. More distressingly that left 72 (in this I offer no exaggerations) odd socks. There are - in this house or strewn around all the places this family go 72 socks which are lying lonely and isolated unable to complete their sock-y life cycle.

I cannot pretend that this is not bothering me. In my youth - when a pair of socks meant something- I used to darn my Dad's socks for 5p a pair. This evening I offered the boys a sock bounty - 5p for every sock they can find hiding in toy boxes or in corners. Unfortunately they only found one to complete a pair and another 5 odd socks.

There are only so many times you can introduce sock puppets into the National Curriculum. At 72 socks that is over three sock puppets per child in the class. Their parents would get suspicious. Sock fractions and socks to two decimal places dosen't sound convincing. I could send them home with tinsel decorated socks for their Christmas trees.

Beginning to sound like Wingpig now - ought to go and have a lie down.





I don't believe this is normal.