Yesterday, it happened. It happens all too often. I suddenly remember a load of laundry I washed about 18 hours earlier. In a mad rush to the dryer, I pray that a rewashing isn't in my future. Flinging open the dryer with hope in my heart, I pick up a damp t-shirt. Burying my nose in it, I start sniffing. Hard.
Okay, it smells mostly like laundry detergent with a hint of mildew. I stand there feeling each breath in my lungs while I make an important decision. Rewash it or throw it in the dryer? Dryer. The dryer wins almost every time. Shamelessly, the cold clothes are thrown into the dryer with no regrets from this girl.
Honestly, I'm just being resourceful. I'm saving money AND water because of this decision.
But this is so much more than just clean (dirty-ish) laundry. I view my whole world wrapped up in this wet pile of clothes.
Here's one of my daughter's pink onesies that will undoubtedly deliver some dehydrated peas once I open the dryer. Food loves being stuck to my daughter's clothes. Oh look. Her cute, little jeggings with ruffles. Old Navy, you win, again. Her little bum is just so adorable in those! The love I have for my baby daughter makes me ache. Those cheeks will never be kissed enough.
Next, I see an array of superhero socks from my little boy. Why are his feet still growing? Shouldn't this process slow down a bit? Just look at his Mickey Mouse shirt. I love how he looks in it. I love hugging him while he wears it, wondering just how I could adore someone so much. Please, little boy, stop growing so fast!
Most of the wash consists of my husband's clothes, mostly because he's bigger than the rest of us and his clothes take up more room. Hey, you. My first love. Remember when it was just our laundry? Just ourworkout t-shirts and shorts? You've always had a most impressive t-shirt collection. We never separated our colors...and still don't. We live on the wild side.
Remember how excited we were when I brought home baby clothes from our first shower? We loved seeing those tiny clothes mixed-up with ours.
I used to wash our work clothes using the gentle cycle and air dried them. Now, my work clothes are t-shirts and sweats. Your wardrobe has changed a bit too, just as your job has changed. You can learn a lot from just looking at someone's laundry.
Like I said, I can see my whole world wrapped up in this laundry. Sure, there are chunks of food that fall out of the dryer when the door's opened. Maybe I feel buried in laundry because it's never ending! That's okay. Sadly, I know this won't last forever. My children's clothes will continuously grow, as will they. My work clothes will someday be dressy again because I won't need to be a stay-at-home mom. Who would I stay home with? Eventually, my kids will leave for college and take their laundry with them...hopefully. The time I'm in the now, it lasts as long as a breath.
So laundry, here's to you.
Here's to all the pink onesies, ruffled jeggings, Mickey Mouse t-shirts and The Avengers socks. You won't be in my laundry too much longer and that saddens me. But that's okay. That's how life goes. Here's to my husband's weightlifting shirts and my running shorts. You were together in the beginning and you'll be together in the end. That brings me joy.
