My parents have a clothes line in the backyard. I know, I know. It's totally 19th century right? Ha ha. Believe me it is. During the summer, instead of using the dryer, my mom will drag the wet laundry up from the unfinished basement and outside. Once outside, she hangs them on the line to dry. It's a more time consuming process than just chucking them into the dryer. But it is, in fact, more beneficial than the dryer. The sun's rays actually kill more germs and bacteria than the dryer because of the... um... something sciency in the sunshine.
And you get that FANTASTIC fresh air smell. I love it in towels and sheets. It's so fresh and clean and fantastic. Mmm.
When I was a kid... meaning like 10 to 17... I was asked to do the laundry often. My mom had just started working outside the home and she needed help maintaining the laundry for seven people. Well to be quite frank, I DESPISED laundry. I hated it. I loathed it! I would have rather scrubbed the toilets with a toothbrush. Unfortunately, I was still in charge of the laundry. My brothers helped sometimes.
Doing the laundry for seven people is pretty intense. And when you add the extra time spent hanging clothes on the line it's a long, long process. As I said before, I despised this chore.
I was grateful when I finally moved out of the house and I only had to do my own laundry. That's not to suggest that I love or even like laundry now. I tolerate it. I understand that it's a necessary chore. Doing the laundry of one person compared to seven is a BIG difference. A difference I greatly appreciate.
I recently spent a night at my parents' house and my mom asked me (very kindly) if I would help with the laundry. She had to work during the day and then has to help at the local county rodeo in the "cook shack". I complied. I am a good daughter after all.She started the laundry before going to work and I was to finish it. Doing the laundry for four people (my two older brothers are married now) is very different from doing laundry for five to seven people. I actually didn't mind it. I kept myself going; remembering to move it from the washer to the line to dry. (When I was younger, I would get distracted and forget that I was in the middle of doing laundry.)
That's not to say that I like laundry. Or that I would like to do laundry like this for four people all the time. For me, at this point in my life, I'd like to hang my sheets and towels on the line to dry. Everything else is okay to be thrown into the dryer.
My point is this: I've grown up. If you would have talked to my five years ago, I would have been resentful of the fact that I had to help with the laundry. Even though it was my responsibility to help out my parents. They were feeding me, clothing me, and putting a roof over my head after all.
Wow, that's a weird thought. I'm an adult. I don't feel like one. Will I ever feel like one?
Until Next Time,
The Hopeless Romantic
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