Three Playful Things

Have you ever heard of Little Miss Matched socks, Joanna? They are my favorite. When you buy a “pair of socks” you actually get THREE socks that “go together” but do not match. They are so fun to wear. And they have great tights for little girls, too. Super fun and silly. I thought you’d like this pair:

http://littlemissmatched.com/products/nyc-taxi-knee-high-socks?taxon_id=260

Joanna! I love fun socks, too! They’re like my secret weapon some days.
Some of my favorites are made by Blue Q socks: https://www.blueq.com/socks/

Last Christmas I asked my husband for a puzzle. He, in his usual fashion, thought “bigger is better!” and got me a 5,000 piece one. It was a painting of a florist in Las Ramblas in Barcelona, which I loved, and so I dove in without thinking whether or not it was sane. It took me 5 months, many weekend and evening hours spent listening to podcasts, and was a journey of its own. Equal parts frustrating, meditative, and fun, and was a great distractor during a stressful year. I was stoked when we got our office floor back though!

If you’re sons like The Hunt, then I highly recommend SafariLIVE! It’s a YouTube channel that live streams safaris twice a day from the Greater Kruger National Park in South Africa, and viewers can interact with in real time with the amazing guides through the YouTube chat and Twitter. The channel sometimes do “school drives” for classrooms from around the world where the guides will answer questions from the kids.

I love Anton’s cheetah shoes comment! When I taught kindergarten in NYC, I would dress for my students—shop for clothes I know they would be into—interesting textures, unexpected colors. My hot pink cords were a favorite but also a pair of lime green faux-snake skin flats. Those flats beloved by all. It’s seems superficial, but little people pay attention to so much of what you say and do when you’re a teacher. It seems only fair to keep them in mind when getting dressed to teach.

One of my favorite memories as a child was sitting down with my dad to watch “Wild America with Marty Stouffer” (I can hear the theme music as I type this). It showed wild animals living their very real, and sometimes very brutal, lives. And I LOVED it. I never had to ask how babies were made. I witnessed it on Wild America! Ha! And my dad always used the hunting scenes to teach me about balance and nature and instinct. It was never, “Oh poor Bambi!” but rather “That gazelle is going to feed that cheetah’s family for weeks.” The lessons those shows taught me have served me well over my life and still do.

Shhh…our cats are getting these for my husband for Christmas:

https://www.supersocks.co.uk/products/custom-printed-cat-socks?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6fTm78rW3QIViVcNCh2ehgXsEAQYBCABEgJisPD_BwE

I love fun socks! Something I’ve always done is wear a favorite pair when I go to the doc/midwife for my annual well-woman checkup… when you’re stripped down to just a robe or a paper sheet, you still have something that feels like you and adds a little levity to the exam.

My husband and I find and bring back a pair of silly socks for the other when we travel solo! It’s a fun and usuable trinket that always prompts a fun story from the trip we wouldn’t otherwise think to share!

Years ago my grandparents got really into puzzles. They always had a card table set up with at least one and anytime someone stopped by they would work on it a bit. On holidays when people were off school and work (lots of postal workers in my family, ha) they would have a “puzzle party” and have multiple puzzles set up and everyone would hang out and eat and move from puzzle to puzzle. It was a nice way to chat with different family members without as much small talk pressure. My grandpa would modge podge favorites and hang them on the gallery wall in the dining room.

My son loves colorful socks. And undies. I just bought him a pair that had $100 bills all over them…he was in HEAVEN. They are fun to buy, too. They had a pack of socks at Target with every day of the week on them covered with different animals and he was so thrilled. Sadly they were too small so we gave them to the neighbor’s boy – he was also thrilled.

My mom and my sister and I have always been fans of goofy socks. It turns out that my boyfriend of just a few months also likes wearing creative socks. My favorite pair of his has oysters on it, and he jokes that he needs to get a bunch of wears in before I steal them from him. On a fairly early date, he and I were at a local outdoor store. I was buying new running socks, but I also kept eyeing these non-technical, just-for-fun goat socks. He offered to buy them for me and I demurred at first but he was like, “please let me buy you these goat socks.” So I let him. And just last week it was FINALLY cool enough to want to wear socks for a little bit inside, and those goat socks brightened my whole evening, both the pattern and the gesture of the gift. I really don’t want to jinx things but this guy, he is wonderful, and I can see this working well/lasting for a long time. Here’s to plenty more socks!

I love love puzzles but what do you do with them after your done? Give them away? Save them to do again (is it fun to do again??)

Puzzles and/or the thought of doing a puzzle stresses me out. What does that say about me? I know so many people who love doing them!

I like fun socks. I have lots of penguin socks, because I love penguins, some chihuahua socks because I have a chihuahua mix, and even some corgi socks because I thought they were cute.

That story of Anton’s teacher made me smile. I have to wonder if she wore them for that reason!

The fun sock thing is so true! I was the proud owner of boring white and black Costco socks for years, but last Christmas—instead of our usual “buy anything” gift exchange—our family did a fun sock-themed Pollyanna. We each had to buy a family member a pair of socks and we were in tears of laughter when we opened them. Some where hilarious, some were sweetly meaningful, some completely random. The ones I were given are now my favorite things to wear when I’m cozied up in comfy clothes, and I smile every time I look down at my feet.

ps. It’s also such an affordable idea to do with co-workers/friends!

We are still having tears at kindergarten drop off :(. Any tips?

Anton is a gem!

Does The Hunt feature gory deaths and dismemberments? Or is it mostly uplifting? I can’t handle any more trauma in my media!