Laundry~

Okay, really?
Someone really needs to get a grip.
If it is this way, after all this time, it may be a hint that it will NEVER change.

My laundry room is ...just ugh.
People laugh and joke and kid, and I am a gamer...I am a positive person,
I like to smile as much as the next guy...
But this area of the house?  It is sincerely no joking matter.

In fact, come to think of it, nothing regarding any part of clothes, even
touches something
funny, around here.
Not seeing them, buying them, washing them, folding them...and certainly not
putting them away.

The endless piles, endless cycles, endless dirty, clean, stained, folded...
Even seeing the basket, empty or full, is enough to give me this feeling in
my stomach,
that although I have only heard of what panic attacks are like,
may give me one.

In the house we are in now, there is a laundry shoot.
I have talked about it before-being a play toy for my boys when we first
moved here.
Well, my husband seems to think it is someone of a family treasure...being
so handy and such.
"Look hon, everyone can just toss you their stuff at night, it'll make it so easy
 for you."

Easy?  Have you lived with us for long?  Did you just get here?

As if he resides in a world where it's all done, every load of clothes,
but the last of the evening.
Yeah, the family is just stripping down after a productive end of the day...
And lined up, one by one, they just
take turns tossing two pieces of clothing each, downstairs.

And there I am, can you picture me?
I stand, apron and all, at the bottom-
Big smile ready, with my fluffy little basket..
Waiting patiently in my spotless laundry room, for just this one load.
That will keep me caught up, forever...

Newsflash!  This tunnel of love, in his eyes, is (in mine), the pit of disaster.
Not only does it scream to be fun for the boys, it also has a benefit to
the "shady" Hale kids-
Their own personal, "sneaky shoot".

We have neat organized kids and we also have the other kind-
Ones that have mountains, (clean or dirty, who knows) all over the floor,
in their closets, under the beds...
You name it.

Now, these are the kids that of course, you need to tell to clean their rooms.
They don't have to have it nice, don't care if it's tidy.
And when that day (of the freakin year) comes, guess what is guaranteed to
happen?
YES. 
The tunnel is immediately beckoned upon, requested to have yet
another job-storage unit. 
Like the woman at the bottom of it, will never notice such a thing.

Is it just coincidence that the days you clean, it is stuffed so tight, it doesn't move?
Are you kiddin me??

Every single time, my lecture of cleaning up, is put upon them, the shoot literally
vomits, over half of what
I saw in their rooms, all over me.

Having said that, the family was called for a recent living room meeting.
In part due to this issue,
but even worse?
Due to the sight of one of the most disturbing things I have
witnessed in my eighteen years of being a mother.

All waited with wide eyes, wondering what this INSULT to me could be-
There was chatter, and then I entered the room, intent on proving my point.
I took out the "evidence" and lifted above my head, high in the air.
I (dramatically) pointed at it, as I called out in my "stern" voice....
THIS!!  THIS CAME THROUGH MY SHOOT TODAY!!!
In hand?
A size 8, boys t-shirt, folded.

There were no smiles, or laughs, although I did expect them...
Maybe some confusion, but only until further explanation.

"I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR TEN OUTFITS A DAY, MANY OF THEM
SMELLY AND NOT ENJOYABLE TO HANDLE.
THAT IS ADDED TO ALL THE TOWELS YOU USE, BLANKETS AND
SHEET YOU SLEEP ON,
AND ANYTHING PEED OR PUKED ON AT ANY TIME,
SO, I DESERVE SOME RESPECT.

EVERY PIECE OF CLOTHING HAS ITS OWN JOURNEY. 
IT BEGINS
WHEN YOU TAKE IT OFF AND HAS A LONG WAY TO
TRAVEL UNTIL
IT GETS ANOTHER CHANCE TO BE WORN.

IT GOES DOWN OUR SHOOT, INTO A BASKET. 
FROM THAT BASKET
IT WAITS PATIENTLY TO GET WASHED. 
AND THEN DRIED. 
AND PUT INTO ANOTHER BASKET. 
IT THEN RIDES UPSTAIRS WHERE IT GETS FOLDED AND TAKEN TO
A ROOM, UNTIL SOMEONE DECIDES (OR DOESN'T DECIDE)
TO PUT IT INTO A DRAWER.

ONLY THEN WILL IT GET TO BE PUT ON YOU, AND WORN
AROUND SCHOOL, SEEING EVERYONE AGAIN.

NOW IMAGINE, AFTER ALL THAT IT HAD TO GO THROUGH,
SOMEONE PICKS HIM UP AND
DROPS HIM TO THE FLOOR.
WELL, THAT IS SAD ENOUGH.
BUT THEN...YES,
THEN, HE GETS SWIPED UP AND THROWN INTO A PILE OF DIRTY THINGS...
AND FROM THERE, RIGHT BACK DOWN
THE SHOOT HE JUST GOT BACK FROM? 
NEVER EVEN GETTING THE CHANCE TO BE WORN!"

Even my older kids just stared at me. 
Did anyone get it?  I prayed they did...
I also hoped I didn't scar the little guys-
Making it like the shirt was alive. 
But I really wanted them to get it-there was a bigger lesson at hand. 
And that was, what the heck?

No one knew who's fault this was-
It was a size 8, but that does not mean, around here, it was the guilty party.
The point was--
Am I to bust my butt, wasting my time, and detergent, washing clean clothes too??
It's hard enough to complete the cycle for articles that truly need it.
This had to be discussed and now.
Before I ever had to feel that way again!!!

I haven't seen another folded thing come to me since.
Maybe some clean(er) things, but I wouldn't dare test,
to find that out for sure...
Just trying to open minds around here to my curse...the endless piles that consume my
every breathing moment.
Almost calling my name through the vents with every step I take around my house...

"Jennyyyy....
I know you can heearrrr meeeeeee, come wash us...."
Ugh, i have the willies just thinking of it down there....

Laundry is the worst.
I have tried sorting, buying cute bins, even the best smelling
detergents, etc to try and motivate---
Um, nothin...
It's like trying to eat a Popsicle in a snowstorm,
just not gonna happen....

I just grin and bear it, knowing it's part of having the large gang that I love...

Are you waiting for a point?
Nope, no great-ending-lesson, or moral.
Just sharing my "Hale Hurdle"...

So, next time you are at your washer, and feeling like a mountain
from you- know-where, think of me.
Not only may you laugh, but if you picture my pile,
you're sure to feel so much better !!!!   :)

Hugs! :)