The Blessings in Laundry

Laundry is the bane of my existence.  I hate it.  It is a never-ending and thankless job, and no matter what I do, I am never, ever caught up.

If I don't put in a load at least every other day, the mound grows exponentially, and if, God forbid, a week goes by without doing any, the pool is full and overflowing.  But worst of all is when the kids clean their rooms.  Then I'm really in for some work.

Let me take a minute to explain our system.  We have a laundry chute on the second floor that goes all the way to the basement.  At the bottom of the chute is a baby pool that corrals all of the dirty clothes into a controlled pile, otherwise, they would spill out onto the floor and get mixed up with the sorted piles of darks and towels.  This way, at least it's somewhat organized.

I had gotten the laundry mostly caught up at the beginning of last week.  I had one more load to wash, and for that short day or two, I knew the laundry would be under control.  Then the end of the school year happened.  Short exam days for Claire.  Parties and awards for Emily.  Soccer games and recital rehearsal and then recital...By the time I knew it, almost a week had passed, and I hadn't put in a single load.  AND the kids cleaned their rooms.

So when I went downstairs today to start the miserable, never-ending cycle again, I was confronted by a pile of clothes about 3 feet high, spilling out of the pool and onto the floor of the laundry room.  As I set to sorting for the bazillionth time, I decided to make a gratitude check of my laundry situation and started listing all of the good things that my laundry tells me about how lucky I am.  Here goes:

1.  We must be very wealthy to have this many clothes.  Lots of people around the world would be amazed by how much we have.  Heck, we could probably clothe a small village with what is in the pool!  So, that must mean we are rich.

2.  I have healthy children and a working husband who need clothes washed.

3.  I don't have to wash these clothes by hand.

4.  I don't have to tote them to the laundry mat.

5.  I have a nice, big, front loader washer that can do super-sized loads right in the comfort of my own home!

6.  I am physically able to do laundry.  I can walk up and down my basement steps.  I can carry large laundry baskets of clean clothes to the family room to fold.  I can see to sort and fold them.

7.  I have children who can and do help me.

8.  I have a nice house in which to store my clothes.  I am not living out of a suitcase.

9.  I can afford to buy detergent so my clothes smell good.

10.  I have bedding to go on a bed that I don't have to share with anyone but my husband.  My kids have beds of their own in rooms of their own.

So, when you look at it, my laundry tells me just how very, very lucky I am.

Still, doesn't mean I have to like it.