When I do laundry I usually zone out and let my hands go at it...fold, fold, fold. Make my hands stack in piles according to Boy,etc. Sometimes as I am absent-mindedly folding, I will put Owen's clothes in the twins' pile, or Tommy's clothes in Owen's pile. This has been happening more and more lately because I just sorted through the box of 2-3 yr. old clothes (not that it's marked or anything--everything was thrown in rather haphazardly--but I can tell which clothes they are) and pulled out a bunch of "new" items for Tommy to wear. It has been like a fashion show for Owen. Almost every day he cries out with delight "Tommy's wearing my Thomas shirt!" or "I remember that green shirt!" The fact is, either these clothes are shrinking, or Tommy is growing at an alarming rate, because Owen was wearing some of them just last year! I love to "see" all of my boys in my mind at this particular age, wearing these same clothes that Tommy is in now. Hand-me-downs are good for memories. It's hard to get rid of them, even when they are very threadbare and (ahem) stained...
Speaking of stains, I need to confess that I am a true mother of boys. I really can overlook stains (although I usually make the boys put on a nicer shirt to go to school in so I can hide my laundry failures from some at least), I can ignore toothpaste rivers running down (or hardened and crusted on, depending on the day)the inside of my sink, I can leave my floor unswept for days on end, I can allow rocks, dirt, and mud in my front entrance for a certain period of time, I can avoid cleaning a toilet that has been missed by one-too-many boys, and I can even avoid being totally grossed out by dirty and longish fingernails for quite a while...alas, these are either some of my greatest housekeeping weaknesses or they are my greatest housekeeping strengths. I haven't decided which yet. I remember one night a few weeks ago feeling very smug because, by accident, I chose that night as bath night (we are not at all regular around here--sorry to shock you all)and I realized that the boys had been playing in mud puddles all day and really needed a bath. See, we neglectful and unhygienic mothers can still qualify for a few blessings every now and then! Someday maybe a girl will come to our family and then I am really going to have to change my ways. Getting the boys off to school involves a quick swipe of their heads with a wet hand, a quick swipe down the front of their faces with accompanying squirm and scowl, and a quick (or long, if I'm lucky) hug and kiss and away they go. No braids, no brushes, no tears. Have I made my point about boys yet? :-)
Ha! "Laughed out loud" when I read this. (If only there were some sort of abbreviation for that . . .)
ReplyDeleteI, too, am the opposite of a germophobe. :) My boys get a bath once a week. MAYBE twice if they are lucky. It always amazes me when people refer to a "bedtime routine" that includes a bath every night! I mean, they just get dirty again so fast! :) And the toothpaste rivers . . . yes . . . it's all so familiar. It's got to strengthen their immune systems though, right?
And I've been thinking about laundry. I learned all about it in my "Household Equipment" class at BYU (hooray for the Home Ec major) and got large lists of stains and what removes them, etc. But I still feel quite hopeless at it. I do hang most of our clothes to dry, which I think helps them stay nicer, but I always forget to "pre-treat" stains or even to treat them at all. And holes in the heels of the boys' socks!! They are never-ending!! Do you darn them? I always just throw them out, but it makes me feel wasteful--especially since we go through so many. *Sigh*
Brushes and Braids--you are one lucky woman, Rach! We've just barely got Soph to the point of not screaming out when I brush her hair out in the morning--even if there are not any knots (I think that must fall under the drama area of a girls genetic make up). It's endless but fun--and as far as toothpaste rivers, I hope Mom and Dad don't mind them too much in all of their sinks. I think it proves what a good mother you are because, hey, at least you ARE having them brush their teeth.
ReplyDeleteAh, poor Soph!
ReplyDeleteThe socks, Mar--no darning here...just chuck em. Our grandmothers would be sorrowful...How about LOUL for an abbreviation? LOL must be lots of laughs, right? We can make up our own!
Oh Rachael, we mothers of boys can so relate. I sent my little ones to bed many times with their dirty little feet sticking out from the bed sheets, and they still had smiles on their faces. And if something falls on the floor, the 10 second (or 20 or 30) rule always applied. Having all boys is the best, and they're always so protective of mother! And when we went to the movies when they were little and they had to use the bathroom in a public place and didn't want to use the ladies room, guess who had to take them?? Just another perk! Poor Mike missed alot of plots.
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