Can we talk about laundry? I have a love/hate relationship with laundry. I don't have time to do it during the week - so I usually do it on Sunday. Today I did seven loads of laundry, and it is a very complex process. My husband occasionally grouses at me, because the laundry chains me to the house. "Why is it such a big deal?" he asks. "It should be easy to implement and get done - you should have laundry in the operational phase of project development," (as opposed to an earlier stage of project development.)
Here is the deal. I feel very proud of my laundry "operation." It varies slightly on a weekly basis, depending on the amount of laundry that the family has produced (and the dominant colors), but typically it is about seven loads that need to get sorted, washed, dried, and folded. Delivery is up to the individual laundry owners. If I am home, the washing and drying stages are simple...if I leave the house things slip, the wash doesn't get transferred to the dryer, and the whole system comes to a complete halt.
There have been years in which my husband has offered to help. Gladly, I have accepted the offer - only to find the LARGEST pile of laundry in the middle of the couch waiting to be folded. I have set a high standard for folding - and now Matt refuses to fold because I have communicated that his folding doesn't meet my standards. Ok, so my father was in the military and I learned to fold his t-shirts with exquisite precision. You, who have worked in clothing sales, know what I mean. Sorry to brag but, I don't have to use a folding board to get the same size and shape folded t-shirt!
I admit, the piles of clean and folded laundry have come to reflect how productive I feel about my weekend. This weekend, the round coffee table is piled high with laundry, drawer-ready! And, there are no baskets sitting downstairs haunting me, waiting to be folded. Laundry, what a silly thing to post about, and yet, it is the seemingly silly things like lack of clean laundry that create chaos in the operations of family life.
There Once Was a Contrary Poet
2 hours ago
Laundry seems like a good SOL topic to me.... but I think Matt should suck it up and work on his folding skills. Have a happy Monday tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI found this to be a very interesting read. I managed to get through two loads of laundry today, you can be sure that my folding was no where close to military perfection.
ReplyDeleteI, too, gauge the success of a weekend by an empty laundry baskets and drawers full of clean laundry! Sadly, it's sometimes just not possible and I'm looking at a Monday and Tuesday drag to the finish line. What do you say we have some folding lessons, though? I'm looking to hone my skills.
ReplyDeleteAnytime. I will gladly teach you the military fold! Once you go there, you won't go back. ;)
ReplyDeleteI can't figure out if my husband really is such a bad folder or just faking it. :) I did work in retail as a high school student and I've been a self-admitted folding-freak every since. Thanks for this great slice!
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