Great Grandmas Think Alike

...about socks.

Andy's mom had bought Ivan a bunch of clothes while he was with them the other week. I must admit her clothing selection has been rather good. She's been buying him some nice pieces--granted they are from Target, nothing fancy, I then again I buy him clothes from Target as well. Nice colors, nice shapes, no obnoxious oversized sports or other emblems paraphenalia.

So this last time, Mimi bought Ivan clothes, I was pleasantly surprised. Pleasantly--because I liked the clothes and it was exactly the clothes he needed. Surprised--because I didn't expect her or hinted to her to buy him anything. But, like all good grandmas, she gets a kick out of it.

I kept everything except the socks. The socks she bought are these socks that have little rubber shapes on the bottom that say 12-24 months, that are supposed to prevent the child from sliding and slipping. Except they don't work (I know because back in the spring I received a such pair of socks). They don't have enough of the rubber stuff to really work. All this rubber sole does is make the sock much thicker to put in the shoe. Also, the top of these socks are rather loose, so they actually keep sliding off Ivan's feet so that he ends up walking on the heel part of the sock with extra loose socks sticking in front of his toes. This, of course, just contributes to falling.

Luckily, Andy's mom, knowing that I'm a rather picky person, kept the receipt for me to exchange anything, if need be. So earlier in the week while Ivan was at my parents, I went to return the socks (yes, all $5 worth of them at Target.) It wasn't the money, it was just that I don't want stuff that I know I won't use lying around the house.

Then yesterday, when Ivan returned from my parents, he returned with some additional new items (such as a bottle scrubber brush, diapers, etc) and an identical pair of light beige rubberized socks that I just returned. Except my mom, being the clean freak she is, took the tag off and actually washed them.

I guess there is no way of getting around these beige rubber socks. I'll have to be upfront with them and tell them "no more rubberized socks."