Life Snippet – The Laundry Pile
I came across a Facebook meme that said “Based on the amount of laundry I do every day, I’m going to assume there are people who live here I haven’t met yet.”
I reposted it.
Our laundry pile never goes away. If I do see the bottom of the basket, by the end of the day, five people take off clothes and fill it up again.
On Tuesday I did four large loads of laundry back to back. I dumped each completed load on my bed until all the loads made one giant mound, then started sorting. I always get to this phase of the dreaded laundry process when I’m interrupted – the laundry pile sits idle. This past Tuesday, my six-year-old had an apparent crisis of monumental proportions.
The girls had been playing quietly in their room. Eventually they came to see what I was doing. My two-year-old, Blu, was dressed up in two princess dresses (the layered look), multiple necklaces, rings, bracelets, princess shoes and chap stick clumped all over her lips. My older daughter, Isabella, was uncharacteristically wearing regular clothing and looked exacerbated.
Blu noticed the clothes pile right away, “Mama? Upie! I hide!” Smiling, she flung her arms up for assistance onto the bed.
I helped her up onto the bed of freshly washed clothing. Just in case it isn’t apparent, I don’t take our laundry very seriously. Also, if I didn’t let her do it when she asked, I’d just have to listen to her ask me repeatedly until I got sick of listening and she figured out how to get herself on the bed. She’s got great stamina.
Isabella stood at the end of the bed for a moment then asked, “guess who’s getting married today?”
I replied, “I don’t know? Is it Blu?”
“Yep! How could you tell it was her?” Isabella was proud her Mama could figure it out without needing clues.
Blu shoots out from under the pile, “No I not!” Then immediately digs herself back to the bottom giggling.
Isabella continues unfazed, “See mom, she’s dressed up so fancy.”
“I do see that! She looks wonderful!” I agree.
Blu sticks her head back out, tilts it to the side playfully like a puppy and says, “Me? No I not.”
Isabella starts to get more forceful, “Yes Blu. We are playing get married. I got you all dressed. You are getting married!”
Blu shakes her head no, “I not.”
Isabella straightens her arms, throwing her fists down to her sides dramatically, “But I spent all day doing this for you!”
It’s mid-morning.
Blu just repeats her sentence sweetly smiling, “No I not.”
Isabella flings her hands into the air and stomps out of my room grumbling.
I turn to Blu, “It looks like your sister got you ready to get married Blu. Do you want to play?”
Blu holds strong, “No Mama.”
Isabella is standing on the other side of my bedroom wall. I can hear her murmuring. It’s loud enough that she knows that we know that she knows we can hear her, “UUUHHHHGGGGG. I spent all this time and no one even can appreciate how beautiful she looks. Gosh! This is just so f-r-u-s-t-r-a-t-i-n-g.” She moans loudly.
Blu and I look at each other wide eyed.
Blu twirls around in her dresses and then struts her stuff down the length of my bed, “Oh! Okay. I get mauriey.”
Without pause Isabella skips back into the room holding out her hand for Blu to join her, “Oh great! Let’s go!” Blu takes Isabella’s hand. They walk hand in hand giggling, ready for the dress rehearsal.
Not one minute passes and Malik enters the room, “Oh! Laundry!”
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Note: I’ve renamed my children on my public site and everyone in my book for privacy purposes. The names used in this story are the public names I will be using moving forward.
I love how you appreciate the great kid moments despite all the exhausting work involved. Good for all of us to remember: savor the fun!