Sock Fights a Common Occurence

This morning like so many others was marked by a fight about socks.

I'm intelligent enough to know these conflicts go deeper than the stitching, cotton, or length of the material. Yet, I'm forever baffled by how Ry can get so upset if the sock is not right. He will go through long socks, short Adidas ankle socks, Gap up to the knee socks, cotton white socks and none of them will be OK. I foolishly think pointing out that the time he spends looking for the perfect socks is time he could be on the playground at school, eating, or doing something fun. But for some reason, at those moments, he can not see a world that exists beyond one which allows children to suffer from "sock disorder."

My wife grapple with how to approach this- Do we use "tough sock love" and detach as he suffers through a parade of socks? Do we become the "sock enabler," and go through each sock with him? Do we live in denial and stop by a store and buy him " the perfect sock?" Do we put on our therapist hats and delve into the underlying struggles in our relationship to him that are being played out in a "sock war."