White what?

At camp pick up recently, the counselor handed me a folded piece of paper as I was signing the kids out. I thought, uh, oh, did someone get in trouble today? Because those are usually the only occasions I get notes, unless it’s an injury report, which is also not uncommon.

“What’s this?” I asked as I was opening it. We were double booked for baseball and football that evening, and baseball was starting half an hour earlier than usual, so I really didn’t have time to deviate from our agenda, even if it was only reading and digesting this piece of information.

“Oh, we’re going to tie dye tomorrow. The note says you can bring in a pair of socks, since we didn’t give that much notice and you might not have time to get a white shirt if you don't have one you want to tie dye.”

I folded the note back up. “Oh, well…they don’t have any white socks. Actually, they don’t have any white anything. My boys wear black socks, black underwear…

“Mah-ahm!” one of them interrupted. “TMI!”

I learned a long time ago that if any of the boys’ clothes ever were white, they weren’t going to stay that way very long. Their socks and unmentionables are indeed black, for the most part, and there are a few gray, blue, and red pieces in the mix. Their shirts are the same. Not only do stains not show, but also I have the added benefit of not having to separate my laundry, unless it's mine from theirs (I don't wash my stuff with their sports uniforms).