"Lint is calling you"

The laundry is my favorite household job but it hasn’t always been. In the olden days when our washer and dryer were behind closed doors in our kitchen/TV area it was more than a huge drudgery to get laundry for eight people from upstairs and then divide the clothes into piles in the kitchen area. In those days there were 1-3 in diapers at any one time. When our youngest was two and just going out of diapers we added on to our house and put a laundry room upstairs right next to our bedroom. Now I can lay in bed and listen to favorite sounds from the washer and dryer. In that room is a tub, washer and dryer, folding area, a place for my sewing machine to sit out (in case I ever decide to put a dent in the mending it will be more convenient), a pull-down ironing board, and shelves behind closed doors. My favorite shelves are open—eight of them, nine if you count the space under the bottom shelf. They are not quite two feet wide and about a foot deep. Each of the kids had a shelf. Without even moving I could fold the clothes on the counter and put clothes into the correct slot. No more having to nag kids to get their clothes off either the kitchen table downstairs or our bed upstairs. If they wanted to live out their slot they could do it. Now there are only three at home so some of the slots are used for other things. When my sweetheart and I go out of town for more than a few days, Philip takes over the laundry, without being asked, so that when we return there is a transition period until I am back with full responsibility for the laundry. After all, Phil has his own jobs. I still find him periodically starting a load or folding clothes. I let him know I appreciate him and his good work. As I was at the computer a while ago I could hear him calling “Mooooooooom, lint is calling you.” And I got up and went to the dryer where we talked briefly about the accumulation of lint (and how much fun it is to peel it off and throw it in the garbage), just as we have many times before. I really like doing laundry but I love interaction with my family even more.