Chloe came home with her brand-new math book today and tells me over the phone that she needs to put a book sock on it by tomorrow. We don’t keep book socks in the house. And what the hell kind of term is “book sock” anyway? What’s wrong with calling it what it is – a friggin’ book cover, for God’s sake.
I explained to Chloe that because both of her parents work, and because I got stuck at work late, we wouldn’t be able to make a shopping detour for a book sock by tomorrow’s deadline. Besides, we have a whole page of supplies to buy this weekend – why would I make a special trip for a sock?
I told her that back in the dinosaur days – when I was a kid – there was no such thing as a book sock. It was simply called a book cover. You could buy book covers in stores – they were usually coated in some saran wrap-type material that slowly started to peel off over time. But if parents didn’t want to spend the money, I explained, kids would cover their books using paper supermarket bags. Chloe was intrigued.
I promised my darling daughter that I would enrobe her book in the old-fashioned paper bag way tonight so that her newly covered book would be waiting for her in the morning. I also pointed out that unlike book socks, she’d be able to decorate the paper bag, too. That made her happy.
Book socks? Come on.