I Am Free.....

I've had this laundry conversation on my blog before. And so the story continues.

How much of a mother's life is committed to the basic chore of laundry? I wonder if anyone has ever studied that. All my married life I've had a love hate relationship with laundry. In our early married life, pre-kid, I think laundry was pretty much just that... a chore. But somewhere along the way that changed. When the kids were babies laundry became a reflection of who I was... somewhat. It became a challenge to how well I could keep my kids clothes looking new and fresh. I became a genius at getting out the worst of stains. Before any clothes were washed I would sit on the floor and go over every single piece of the kids clothes scouring them for stains and scrubbing them spot free before they were thrown into the washer. I used "Goop" hand cleaner and a toothbrush. That stuff got everything out if you scrubbed hard enough. I prided myself on my kids looking beautiful, clothes all fresh and clean in their closets and drawers.

As the years have gone on it's pretty much stayed the same. My friends and family (including Craig) have told me for years that the kids should be doing their own laundry. A few times I've come close to letting go but I just couldn't do it. Even when I would complain and get behind in the laundry it was still nearly impossible for me let go of the laundry control. The little that the kids and Craig do drive me crazy.... the clothes are not sorted by color correctly, the washer is packed too full, they let the clothes sit in the dryer for 2 days and wrinkle all up, they don't put the clothes away or hang in the closet what needs to be hung up.... you get the picture.

Well... I have finally come to my breaking point. I've decided that at this point the aggravation of doing the kids laundry has gotten to be more than the aggravation of letting them do their own laundry. I am tired of turning every single sock right side out because they are ripe them off inside out, same for jeans and shirts. It irritates me to no end that they cannot wear a pair of jeans more than once. Caleb has to wear a uniform to work, why have I made it my job to make sure his work clothes are clean and ready for him??? HE'S 20 YEARS OLD!

I have no one to blame but myself. I know this is a control thing but I am so ready to let go of it. Last Saturday I informed the kids that they would now both be doing their own laundry. It really wasn't a surprise and they both looked at me like it was no big deal. When I sorted out the laundry I separated out Caleb and Jordan's dirty clothes, took them back to their bedrooms and put them into their laundry baskets. After their clothes were removed I only had about 3 loads of clothes to wash.... Wow, what a difference! I will no longer spend a complete day on the weekend from morning until night doing laundry! I AM FREE!! I AM FREE!!

Now the challenge will be how well will I be able to keep this up? Will I be temped to go into their rooms and grab up the laundry after a few weeks? Will I be able to tolerate them not doing the laundry to my standards? I can do this, YES I CAN! Pray for me......