Going "laundry"!

I have never worked for the US Postal service, so I cannot claim to understand the pressure and how people can go "postal". However, if I had to imagine a similar job, I would think it's like laundry...it just keeps coming. The same thing, over and over...and over. I have heard myself utter such things as "ok--all of the laundry in the house is clean---do NOT make any more!" Lo, and behold these people keep wearing clothes.

I have two children who cannot seem to navigate food from their plates to their mouths without taking detours to their clothing! The girl usually employs a rolling technique as something saucy makes its way down the front of her shirt. The boy, on the other hand, aims low with most of his damage occurring on the bottom hems of shirts and more often on his pants. He acts surprised every time dinner finds its way onto his lap...I just expect it to be as much of a part of dinner as salad.

Laundry does seem to be the easiest way to try to restore order when the house is a mess. However, it is also a potentially dangerous chore when used as an escape route. If I say I am "doing laundry", what am I doing? Sure I gather, sort and fill the machine, but then there is a good 45 minute window where I'm really doing nothing (I have electric appliances, so I am not down by the stream with my washboard--THAT would be a chore! And aside from a spin cycle that nearly registers as a quake, there isn't much to sit and observe.) Then when it comes time to rotate the laundry, I am pretty much idle again for close to an hour. Clearly the best bet is to "do laundry" in conjunction with a variety of other fascinating household tasks, which is what I usually do, but I'm just saying...it could be dangerous. (p.s. I am doing laundry right now!)

It's putting away laundry that I don't like. I think that is because it alerts me to situations going on in our bedroom closets that I'd prefer to ignore. Our son will typically wear whatever is on top in any of his closet cubbies. (That is what we have here as I decided a few years ago that these people were not the drawer opening type...or at least not the type to keep things in drawers in a manner that would promote the closing of drawers.) If he chooses to wear something from lower in a stack, the resulting avalanche is usually left behind. Our daughter likes to change her mind in the morning (also known as not wearing anything her mother had a hand in picking out). I can't think of an occasion when things were refolded and put away, so that explains the heap in the bottom of her closet. I am not really sure what is going on in my own closet, but it's not pretty either. I decided I was not in charge of putting away my husband's laundry, and luckily (for him, I guess) there is a chair that seems to accommodate much of his wardrobe.

My only request as of late regarding the laundry was that people turn their clothing right-side out. I admit that I don't usually pay much attention until I am folding, as I try not to get too involved with the dirty laundry unless there is a pretreating issue to tend to. I tried logic..."It takes less time for you to turn your clothes right-side out before putting them in the laundry, than it takes me to have to do everyone's." I tried whining, "Oh, come on guys, I hate doing this." I tried yelling, "Oh for crying out loud, can't you people turn your clothes right-side out?!" My son says "oops, sorry", my daughter just looks at me, and my husband says...wait for it...it'll be worth it..."The t-shirts must've turned that way in the machine!" Wow! Can you imagine our children sitting there thinking "Geesh, if she believes that, imagine the excuses we'll be able to use in our teen years?!" So apparently I have a very talented washing machine that also has a personal vendetta against me...great! Then I found it, there in the hamper, a t-shirt of his that was INSIDE OUT...on its way INto the laundry. I came running downstairs chanting "AHA! AHA! Look what I found!" (I do realize that this level of lunacy should be reserved for finding something more damning, like lipstick smears on the laundry...what can I say?) The response I got was "Oh yeah, that was sweaty and gross!" You'll be relieved to know that I did not suffocate him with his nasty shirt!