Laundry

 

            As soon as Dawn felt the alarm on her wrist, she rolled out of bed. What was today? Ugh – Monday. The start of the week was always hard, and today was also laundry day. Dawn may have been just a stay-at-home mom, but she had a lot of work to do.

            Mornings were always a little hectic on the weekdays. Making sure four kids were ready for school was no small task. Oatmeal, scrambled eggs, or cereal was the choice for breakfast. With six people in the house, usually every option was chosen. The smell of maple and brown sugar filled the air and the frying pan was cooling down on the stove as everyone sat down to eat.

            Half an hour later, there was a frantic hunt for jackets and shoes when it was time to head out. “Where’s my water bottle?” one of the kids asks.

            “I can’t find my library books!” another child cries.

            Then it’s time for school drop-off. When Dawn returns home, she took a few deep breaths before cleaning up the kitchen. With all the sticky surfaces wiped clean, she’s now ready to start tackling the laundry.

            A mountain of clothes greets her as she walks into the room where the three overflowing hampers sit. Sorting the clothes takes twenty minutes. She nearly missed a red sock going in with the white clothes. Whew! That was a close one. She finally gets the washer started with the first batch of laundry.

            Now, Dawn can run a few errands. The grocery store was priority number one, but sometimes she also had a few other places to visit. Today, it was the dry cleaner’s. Throughout the day, she mostly remembered to switch the clothes from the washer to the dryer and to start another load. Finally, with the fourth load in the washer, it was nearly time for school pickup. She hadn’t had time to fold all of the clean clothes, but she grabbed her keys and headed for the car.

            After school, there was another flurry of activity, and Dawn did her best to help everyone with their homework, while also trying to get dinner in the oven. She finished folding the clean laundry with minutes to spare before the oven timer beeped. Allowing herself to sit down for a moment, she reveled in the fact that the laundry hampers were empty and all the clean clothes were put away.

            Then she watched her oldest come in with her dirty gym clothes. The girl smiled sweetly at her mom and asked, “Can you wash my gym clothes, please? I need them for tomorrow.”

            “Sure, honey. No problem.” Dawn suppressed a sigh. She should have known that the laundry was never done.