Thursday, June 18, 2009

Laundry


How many loads of wash does the average mom do in her lifetime? Do you think that Grandma Loveridge has reached 1,000,000 loads yet? These were my thoughts a few minutes ago as I was... you guessed it, doing laundry.

I was excited for the winter laundry to end. Sweatshirts and jeans and buckets of socks. Summer, I thought would be much easier. Shorts and t-shirts, swimsuits and blessed be the flip-flops... No socks! (Remember when those used to be called thongs? Jonathon had a funny thing happen with that little mix up many years ago. You should ask him about it one day.)

Now that we are in full summer laundry mode, I have found, that this season too, more so than last year, has it's laundry set backs. It's true that I have very few socks comparatively speaking,) and most of those are Jonathon's, so they are easy to fold. But with the swimsuit season comes multiple, and really, I mean multiple changes of clothes. Get up, get dressed, oh! Lets jump on the trampoline with the sprinkler on! Take off clothes, put on swimsuit. That was fun! Get dressed, in DIFFERENT clothes, Oh, it's hot and a friend invited us to her pool! Off goes the clothes again, on goes a swimsuit (probably a different one too!) Back from friends pool, new clothes again. Swim team time, suit back on, clothes left on the floor. Home from swim team, new clothes again. Bath time and jammies. Lets not forget that for each time a swim suit was put on a towel was also used. X's that by 3 kids and that just about equals 3 loads in one day.

Obviously, the answer is to install locks on the dressers and closets so that I can be in strict control of the number of changes of clothes they are allowed each day. I am looking into locks this afternoon...

Or, consider this little dilemma. You (when I say that, I really mean I...) put a load of white under garments in to wash. It is Saturday morning and you (I) would really like to get caught up so that something fun could be done during the day. Well, fun presents itself a little earlier than you know and you're out the door. Laundry still in the washing machine. Soon it is Saturday night and the laundry is long forgotten. Sunday comes and goes and because we don't do work on Sunday, the laundry couldn't possibly get done today. Then Monday is here and it is gone too. Finally, with laundry baskets overflowing, Tuesday is the get it done day. Without much thought, the whites that have sat in the washer for so long finally get dried and eventually folded and put away. Well, the next day, you (I) put on one of the said under garments and then head out in the hot sun and start to sweat a bit. EWWW! What is that smell. And then, to your (my) horror you realize that it is you, wearing stinky clothes. The procrastination of the weekend has finally caught up.

That's where I was a little while ago when I started thinking about laundry. Rewashing clean, but stinky clothes that I had left in the wash too long. I guess procrastination really doesn't pay.

8 comments:

Seth and Julie said...

I relate all too well (except for the swimming part, no swimming here yet...still 60 degrees). You know I HATE laundry! I get my other chores done but laundry can be hidden so it gets neglected and then sneaks up later to cause me distress.

Grandma-Grandma has probably done a million loads of laundry this week alone. As soon as it hits the bottom of the laundry basket she is washing it. One more way that I am striving to be like Grandma someday.

Emily said...

Grandma-Grandma even dries her towels after she uses them so they are dry when she hangs them up!

I am so excited to finally have my own washer and dryer. We had one in our last apartment but it just isn't the same. I'm pretty sure that magic will wear off soon though!

Sarah E. said...

Yes, Emily. Enjoy the magic for the week or so that it lasts.

Brian and Tonya said...

Wow, that's lots of laundry. I hate laundry so I feel for you :(

Cristy said...

AMEN, SISTA!!!! Oh, you make me laugh... probably because I can relate so well! And so eloquently spoken! Well, I'm off to do Chad's laundry from Scout camp... try not to be jealous! :) Love ya!

Julie L said...

Oh, who hasn't put on "clean" clothes to find that great odor? I'm learning, but it has taken me many years. I've also found the washer seems to pick up that smell even when it sits empty! Hooray for a bleach rinse load without clothes. Hang in there. It does get easier as the crew moves out and away.

Tony and Ann said...

Hmmm...does the saying "what goes around, comes around" mean anything to you??

Katrina said...

I have to laugh - because I understand so well. I have laundry memories with you and when I ever have to turn something inside-out, I remember your advice to your spouse, "If you want it right side out, put it in the laundry that way!"

What a love you are. I'm thinking of starting to teach Abigail how to do her own laundry. If I can just get the energy to do so.

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