It seemed to be an ever increasing problem of late. Someone would come to me and ask where their socks are. Now, I know what it is like being a mommy, every missing thing we mommies are supposed to know where it is. But I figure if it is YOUR sock YOU should know where it is. Then mine too disappeared. First a purple one. Then a pink one. Then a black one. Where ever they were going, whoever was taking them, it was totally nondiscriminatory. It didn't matter their size shape color, or heck, even if they were clean or not. So on this dark and blustery night I decided to do a little sluething on my own. I wanted my socks back!

With one child in the tub I waited, knowing if there were loose socks laying around it wouldn't be long before I heard that old familiar tune of "Where's my sock!?" Sure enough, not long into her bath I heard the song being played out again. Only this time it had a slightly different ring to it. It went like this "Kimi! Give me back my sockl!" KIMI???? Could it be? My little girl? My innocent little.. oh wait.....that's right. We ARE talking about Kimi after all!

I peeked out my bedroom door carefully. Looking down I saw my darling littlest angel laying on her tummy, her tiny little nose peeking around the bathroom door. Her fluffy little tail waqging experimentally once, twice, quielty thumping the carpet while she waited. Gathering her back legs up under her, she crawled forward a step or two like a soldier, on her tummy. Inching her way in to that bathroom, hopefully unnoticed by the occupant, she crawled in closer. Kimi took the point of her pint sized snout and edged the door open another onch or two. I am assuming this was to give herself room for her 'get-away'. I watched her dark shiney eyes scanning the room quickly for her prey. Spotting it her eyes lit up and she quickly looked back over her shoulder once to the left, once to the right, checking for witnesses to her crime. I quickly and quietly ducked back into my room before she noticed me, barely able to contain my own giggle. Peeking through the crack between the door and the frame, I saw her pink tongue curl outward with her grin. Spotting no witnesses, Kimi turned her full attention back to the task at hand. Quietly she creeped forward another inch, and slowly she raised to a half crouched position. Her right front foot came up off the floor and she froze, standing there in ready position much like a tigress on the hunt. The suddenly....Kimi darted forward, her mouth open wide and ready and she struck with lightening speed! Snatching the offending sock up off the floor in one quick snap of her tiny teeth and she was off. Twisting her compact little body she turned and rushed from the bathroom with the wail of a child following her "KIMI! Bring back my sock!!!!!!!!!!!" Holding a hand clapsed over my mouth to contain my mirth, I watched to see what unfolded next. It was the towel of this 'child- of-the-missing-sock" as she grabbed it up, wrapped it around herself and with a trail of soap bubbles following her everywhere, Ashley ran after Kimi. "KIMI!" she shouted, as Kimi headed thru the front room laughing around this mouth full of pink sock. Around the dining table they went, Kimi in the lead with a pink sock mixing with her pink tongue as they both hung from one corner of her mouth, followed by a frustrated child determined to rescue her sock from the jaws of this pint sized thief-in-the-night. "Give me my sock!" Ashley demanded as her and her bubbles ran after our laughing little angel.

Laughing out loud as I joined in the chase I spotted our tiny tiger dashing down the stairs and over heard her grunts wrapped in a synthetic blend as she bounced down each step. "eerr eerrr eeerrr" Kimi goes as she lands on each step. Around the corner she flew, not even looking to see how close we were to catching her. I spotted Kimi's tail as she dashed under the playpen for she forgot to tuck the tip of it in under there with her. I dropped to my knees and pulled my hair back away from my face so I could see her clearly. There she was, in full shining glory, with her left front paw placed protectively over her 'find', she looked at me through up-lifted eyes and grinned. I reached out my right hand and said "Kim I want that sock, NOW!" in my most commanding trainers voice. A lot of good that did me! Kimi merely gave me a breathy little laugh and raised her head to toss it back into the air in that defiant gesture of hers.

"Kimi look out!" WHACK! "YIP!" Uh-oh...to late, she whacked the top side of her head on the bottom side of the playpen. Quickly ducking again she groaned once, her smile slipping just a tiny bit. I chuckled a little and told her it is not a smart thing to toss your head while still hiding UNDER something. Kimi simply grinned at me again and slapped her paw down on top of the sock, daring me to try to take it from her. Daring ME? Your mother??? Oh Kimi....I quickly reached under and grabbed one end of the sock in my fingers. Kimi quickly grabbed the other end of the sock with her teeth. I pulled on my end. She pulled back on her end. Together we pulled the sock from both ends. Each time I pulled I said "Kimi let go!" Each time she pulled she said "grrrrrrr!" (nope..not gonna mommy!) Locking my hold into the sock, I pulled harder. Locking her teeth onto her end, Kimi slid forward. On her tummy. Still saying "grrrrrrrrrr". But in a nice way.

In this manner I managed to pull her clear out from under the playpen, even though as she reached the edge of it, Kimi managed to hook her toes around the legs of it! Have you ever noticed how far a Sheltie can stretch this way? From her teeth, which I swear were even stretching out from between her lips at ths point, all the way back to her back legs, where her toes were still firmly gripping the legs, she must have been a good five feet long! Or longer! Not easy to do in a puppy only ten inches tall! Well, okay I conceed, she probably wasn't that stretched out, but it sure looked that way from MY end of things! Still grinning widely around her sock, Kimi was not about to let go of something she believed in so firmly. She had found this sock just laying there on the floor, un-noticed, un-touched, and at that time un-worn. So she figured she would do the right thing and take this poor abandoned sock for her own!

Reaching down and prying this sock from between her teeth, I handed it back to Ashley and told her to go ahead and finish her bath. Kimi tried to distract me by rolling over on her back for a good belly rub. I gave her one for all her efforts, but I wasn't fooled by her angelic appearance. I knew by now if there was one sock gone missing tonight there would be more.

I didn't have to wait for long to be proven right either. Laying across my bed watching tv a bit later I heard a quiet whining sort of noise. Turning the volume down with my remote control I listened closely for that sound to be heard again. There it was! It sounded like Kimi! Oh no! Was she sick? Was she stuck somewhere? Did I accidentally hurt her when I took the sock from her? I rolled over to the side of the bed to get up and find her when I spotted her. Sitting there on ther floor. At the end of the bed. Looking up at me innocently, her right ear perked to full attention. Her eyes shinging brightly. Grinning around.......ANOTHER SOCK!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well you rotten little cuss you! I jumped off the bed and reached for the sock. Kimi whirled quickly and took off out the door with a long white, but obviously DIRTY sock trailing behind her. "YIMMPPHH!" she shouted around her mouth full of sock. Scampering quickly, she headed for the front room. "Kimi, give me that sock!" I commanded to her. "YIMPH!" (no way jose'!) she called back to me as she headed behind the couch. I figured on out-manuvering her and went to the opposite end to wait for her to come out over there. Kim had other plans as I found out while waiting. Standing there, bent over, my own tail end in the air, I peered behind the couch and watched for signs of Kimi. Imagine how goofy I felt when I peeked back through my own legs once after catching a slight movement behind me, only to see her sitting back there waiting for me. Again with a look of pure innocence plastered around her smile. I whirled around and Kimi jumped to do the same. However she hadn't counted on her feet getting all tangled up in this sock. Like a Raccon not wanting to let go of its quarry, Kimi wouldn't give up her hold on this sock. Nose under appetite she went in a neat little summersault. Landing much more gacefully than I ever could in this move, she came to her feet, sock still in...uh..mouth and off she went. With me in hot pursuit.

Back down the stairs we flew, me yelling "Come back here you thief!'', And her shouting "Yimphff!" ( no way mom!) around her sock ahead of me. Back into moms computer room we chased. Across the room, and under one chair, well Kimi went under it, I went around it. Coming out from under the chair about the time I reached her, I almost had a hand full of Kimi tail. Being slicker than fresh snot, she slid right through my fingers. Hanging a tight left turn, Kimi wedged herself between the chair and the wall and landed on the couch. On a pile of something. Moving in closer I spotted what she laid on. SOCKS!!!!!!!!!! Lots of them! All our missing socks! There was a pink one, a purple one, a black one, a big white one, a dirty white one, a smaller grey one. All kinds of socks, and there was Kimi right smack dab in the middle of them all, grinning proudly.

Now keep in mind, a Sheltie is a memeber of the Herding Group of dogs. They do like to keep their "herds" in a nice neat tight little package. From the way she had this stash of socks bunched into a nice neat tidy little pile, I believe this was her "herd" to watch over. Although the way she was then lovingly nosing one of them, maybe they are her 'sock babies"? With a quick flick of her tiny nose, Kimi flipped on lone sock right out of that pile, over the side of the couch and it flopped onto the floor. Peering over the edge of the couch at it, her ears perked into a forward flop, she grinned down at it. Okay..so maybe they weren't her "sock babies" after all. Standing there I watched with a confused grin as one by one she flicked each with her nose and rolled it off on to the floor where it landed in a heap with the others she had already "turned loose". With the landing of each, Kimi would hang her head over the side of the couch and lay there grinning at it for a second. Then, lifting her head she would grin at me before sticking her nose under another sock and flicking it to the floor.

Either she was turning them loose and giving them their freedom to run free and be wild, missing-in-action socks once again, or she was "handing" them back over to me. I just stood there before her chuckling and shaking my head. One never knows what to expect with her in their lives, but that's what makes life so interesting. Learning to live expecting the unexpected makes everyday a day filled with surprises and miniature parties to liven up my life.

Share a smile with someone you love, it is one thing guaranteed they will return on their own!

Walk In Beauty Kristi & Kimi