Gifting Underwear

When you were growing up, did your mom and/or dad -- or perhaps Santa, himself -- give you socks and underwear for Christmas?  Maybe you were blessed with this amazingly simple and practical gift twice a year, on both Christmas and your birthday.  All I can tell you is that as a woman approaching her 35th birthday, I'm really wishing I were 10 again and knowing I'd be getting some really great socks and underwear.  


There's nothing worse than holes in your underwear.  Why?  It's simple really...as a mother of 3 (11, 3, and just turning 1) and having been a loving wife for the past 5 years who used to pride herself on a clean and organized home, I've been consumed with other daily worries:

• Getting the kids up, dressed, fed, and off to their designated destinations for the day...each day.  And, remembering where they are so that they can be picked up at the appropriate time at the end of the day.
• Figuring out who needs laundry done first and getting it done quickly and efficiently, avoiding the "creative clothing" process of an 11 year old with no clean pants or socks when he's already 5 minutes late leaving for school.
• Crap! Can't forget that the kids need to eat...over and over and over and over.  Does anyone else find themselves groaning a mealtime?  Maybe it's just me that finds the daily task exhausting?  I swear my generation just didn't get the meal prep ability of the generation before mine!  My mom and dad always seemed to have it pulled together at meal time.  
• Let's not forget that we must make sure there is adequate food in the house to meet the daily meal needs of 3 kids - all at different stages of meal consumption options.  This makes both grocery shopping and meal prep even more stressful...yikes, the pressure!!!
• Remembering to feed myself or pack a suitable meal for my 12 hour work day...usually means I walk out without fulfilling either task.  This, then, leads to too many trips to the vending machine or money spent in the cafe that could have been saved...for...I don't know, UNDERWEAR PURCHASES!!!  
• Can't forget the house cleaning, dish washing, bottle sanitizing, or bill paying!  Oye!!!  I'm ashamed to admit how lazy I am at the end of the day...the bathroom needs cleaning, the floors need swept and/or mopped, and don't even get me started on the need for dusting!!!!  

It's no wonder that as I folded socks and underwear last night, I was overwhelmed with shock and emotion as I found I had to throw away somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 pairs of my own underwear due to unraveling seams, holes, or unsightly stains from recent visits by Monthly Martha.  Really?  6 pairs at once?!?!!  How did so much time pass that I wore thru 6 more pairs of Jockey Underwear?!?!!  Not to mention, the very thought of having to go to the store and stand within the vastness that is the lingerie department in order to locate, appropriately size, and choose favorable colors of my tried and true Jockey Underwear is exhausting.....inducing panic when considering the shear cost of this major purchase.  

Where's the dang sock and underwear fairy when I need her?  Is it wrong to ask my mother to make a special birthday purchase for her grown daughter, about to turn 35?  Or, is it even more wrong that I'm most excited to get my tax refund so that I can go to the store to stock up on my favorite brand of underwear?  

So, I say.....gift underwear!  When we're 10, we don't see the value of such a gift....but at nearly 35, I'm wishing I were 10 again!!!