You pull your clothes out of the drier, and immediately you know it: a sock has gone missing. Grrrr! To me there’s nothing more frustrating than having the order of the sock drawer thrown into disarray by all of these stray socks that keep turning up without their mates. And let me tell you that this problem seems to peak during the adolescent years, especially with boys and all those identical athletic tube socks!
But rather than spending time pondering the deep mysteries of life (where do the missing socks go, anyway?) I have found a very useful application for the strays that seem to turn up every wednesday.
Rice socks.
It’s so simple and so practical! My kids are always getting bumps and bruises of one kind or another from their athletic activities and just general rough-housing (and general spazziness, in some cases!) Plus, my middle-aged bones just love the feel of a warm compress on cold evenings. So once in a while I gather up a bunch of stray socks, fill ’em with rice and store ’em in the kitchen for emergencies. I usually keep at least 2 in the freezer – they’re perfect for helping to reduce swelling (and that goes for puffy eyes, too Mom!) and I keep a few more in the cupboard above the microwave. Heat them up for a minute, toss over your shoulders or tuck in your lower back while sitting down…it’s pure heaven.
All you need to do is to pour a pound (or two if the socks are really big) into a clean tube sock, then tie off the end with a pretty ribbon. I’d recommend you also stitch off the opening in case the ribbon works its way off (seems to happen a lot with the boys…). You can also use corn or barley instead of rice if you prefer. But make sure you don’t use popping corn! If the rice starts to smell odd after a number of heatings, just open up the sock and replace it with fresh grain.
Enjoy! Oh, and by the way, rice socks make wonderful homemade gifts!
My daughter made me a sock filled with rice for mother’s day last year. She was so proud of it! I didn’t think that we would actually use it, but we do, all the time! We usually store it in the freezer. It helps with tension headaches and the bumps and bruises the kids get in rough-and-tumble play.