Socks.
Big black socks. Little pastel socks. Long soccer socks. Short white socks. Fuzzy Christmas socks. 
Allllllll in a huge mishmosh on the floor of my laundry room.
First job- gather them from the mountains of clothes on them and around them and put them in a laundry bag. 
Next job- wash the socks and dry them.
Worst job- take them out of the dryer and match them. 
Add in a curious new puppy whose favorite thing is SOCKS and biting socks and grabbing socks and you see I have a problem here. 
I've tried to get help for the sock issue but no one in my house is especially willing to match socks for me. 
My OLW this year is SOLUTIONS and so I decided to find one. If each child had a hamper in his/her room, then the socks would be in natural places. My socks would be in the upstairs hamper, my husband's in the downstairs hamper and the kids in their rooms. When it's laundry time, I can put the socks in a bag right from the hamper and everyone's socks will be sorted before they are washed and dried. 
Part of the horror of the socks is that they are all mixed up. If they were separated, it would make the job so much easier, I predict. 
​I ordered the hampers and I'll let you know. 

Our little Houdini puppy greeted me in this spot to my surprise in the first few weeks we had him. He was supposed to be gated in the kitchen but as I came down the stairs, he was sitting at the foot of them, waiting. He squeezed his little body through the gate and sat, waiting for his people. He did not try to climb the stairs. 

Nowadays, there is no kitchen gate to squeeze out of because Teddy sleeps in his little bed in the living room, next to one of us who takes a turn sleeping on the couch so he has company. (Don't judge.) He sleeps peacefully all night in his dog bed and isn't squeezing through gates or searching for his family. However, he has discovered that he can climb the stairs. 

He's done it a couple of times now- and mind you, it is a big flight of stairs that involve a smaller set, then a landing, then a large staircase that is wooden floors and not conducive to little paws. Slippery. Steep. I cannot believe he's done it. We aren't putting a gate there so I'm trying to figure out ways to keep him from climbing. 
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Enter Hello Kitty. She is a Valentine's decoration that I was putting out last week. Teddy was sniffing her and investigating when she toppled over on top of him. Since then, he's been petrified of her. He runs the other ways when he sees her. His fur stand on end. I was sure that placing her on the steps would keep him far away. 

It didn't. My daughter's JoJo robe was on the landing near Hello Kitty and Teddy pushed his fear aside to secure the JoJo robe. Then climbed higher. I found him near my son's room. 

The only solution seems to be constant supervision of him to make sure he isn't climbing the stairs. All of the sudden, this pup seems more bold, ready to try new experiences. His nervous nelly mom (me) does not like him climbing big staircases. Compromise will have to be reached- maybe with supervision, he can do one climb a day. 

I guess even dogs enjoy the climb....
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