With one child headed to college in a few months and another who constantly places clean clothes in the dirty laundry hamper rather than (re)folding it and putting it away in his dresser, I’m thinking it is time for me to allow both of them to enjoy one of adulthood’s greatest responsibilities – laundry. I’m done cajoling them into bringing the dirty clothes to me so I can have the pleasure of sorting, washing, drying and folding their stuff. It’s time.
When did you begin doing your own laundry? If I told you I washed my family’s laundry at the town Laundromat when I was in 3rd grade, would you believe me? Well, it’s true, I did. I have distinct memories of my brother and I walking 2 blocks, carrying baskets of dirty clothes, to the laundromat. I don’t remember complaining about doing it, either. The library was on the other side of the laundromat’s parking lot and I eventually got pretty adept at throwing the wash into the machine, walking to the library for a stack of Nancy Drew books and getting back in time to toss everything into the dryer.
When it came time for folding, the challenge was always the sheets. My 9-year-old arms simply couldn’t extend wide enough to get the nice, crisp fold my mother expected. If I was lucky, there would be some older women nearby who would literally give me a hand, teaching me that complete strangers were willing to help me as I made an effort.
I went downstairs this evening and moved my son’s load of laundry from the washing machine to the dryer so I could throw in a load of my things. A bit later, I folded neatly placed his clothing into his hamper so I could toss my own stuff into the dryer. Looks like I really did learn a lot from those kind women so many years ago.
DelSo 