Thoughts on Laundry

While watching conference yesterday I remembered something a friend asked me to jot down for a lesson in R.S. While not beautifully written it stands as a reminder of the Prophets talk to enjoy today and be grateful for the finger prints because they will be gone all too soon.
It had only been three days since the last time I dared enter “that room” at the end of the hall. It was only because of the mysterious smell that had overcome the entire west wing of the home that I decided it was necessary. Of all the rooms in the house this was perhaps the most intimidating. The door could barely open and despite my thin build it was difficult to slide my way past the mounds of decomposing matter.

Three days multiplied by six people means eighteen towels (my family refuses to use a towel twice for fear of drying their face with the end of the towel that formally dried someone’s feet). There were six swimming suits; countless outfits sized 12 months covered in various bodily excretements and three leotards despite the fact that no one takes dance or gym. There were sweat socks that stood at attention and a pile of clothing that looked suspiciously like the clean stack I had handed my daughter just a couple days prior. There were pants with missing buttons, zippers that were stuck, shoe laces to be washed, sheets to be cleaned and garmets to be bleached. There were eighteen once white kitchen towels, a car seat cover that was hit when a diaper exploded and bed spread from my room that was attacked during a diaper change. All in all it was a disaster, a room from which husbands and children alike would have run. It was simply another Monday.

>Monday means family home evening and being November our lesson was on being thankful. As I looked at my “leaves”to place on our family tree that stated the things I am thankful for, I surprised even myself to see at the top of my list – laundry. I am thankful for the stained baby clothes because it means I have a baby in the house, because along with the stains and leaks comes smiles and hugs. I’m thankful for the leotards because it means my girls are creative and don’t yet worry about conforming to society’s ideas of “cool”. I’m thankful for the sweat socks because it shows me my son knows how to be a boy and that we have a great place to play. I’m thankful for the towels because it shows me that my husband loves me enough to smell good when he cuddles me at night. I’m thankful for the collection of clothes, missing buttons, and the zippers that don’t zip because they make me feel useful. When I looked closely at the heaps of filthy clothes I realized that one day I’ll miss these piles because my family will be gone and I will be the strange woman wandering the neighborhood in search of stains to get out.

The sad thing is that baby is now 5. It really does seem like yesterday!