Woman of Noble Character Challenge Week 5

"She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple. Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land. She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant."

Week 5: Proverbs 31:22-24 Are you or a family member always hunting for a clean pair of socks? Does the laundry seem to be getting the best of you? Maybe you are always behind on doing the dishes. Write a post sharing how you deal with the never ending loads of laundry and dishes.



This week's challenge is the whole reason I wanted to do these posts. With 9 people in our house, we have A LOT of laundry. It is truly never-ending.

I try. Really. As fruitless as I know it is, I actually try to get ALL the laundry done. I even delude myself into thinking I have succeeded because the mountain of dirty laundry that was next to my washing machine is now a mountain of clean laundry next to my dryer. I don't think about the hills of laundry in the bedrooms and bathrooms what will become tomorrow's Everest. I feel especially accomplished when that mountain is folded and whisked away to mysterious hiding places.

Notice I didn't say "put away in drawers". That was not an oversight. My children seem to have an unspoken schedule for who will put their clothes away and who will hide them under the bed, in the closet or simply unfold them, give them a good shake and put them into the "dirty" pile.

I have gone into a room after such a travesty has happened. I look at the scattering of clothes on the floor and ask "Didn't I just wash that?" The response is predictably a shoulder shrug and a mumbled version of "I don't know". (Do they have a class in how to hold their head at that angle and wrinkle their foreheads in that puzzled way?)

I have tried to come up with some kind of laundry schedule. I can't stick to it. I start loads and forget about them or I don't have time to fold them. I have dreams of a table where I can fold and stack clothes as they come out of the dryer like in a laundrymat. My laundry room is smaller than my closet. Now that I think about it, it's smaller than my bathroom. All three of them! There is room for a washer and dryer to sit side by side and a laundry basket to sit in front of the dryer on the floor. My dirty laundry actually sits next to the fridge outside the laundry "room" door.

The result of all this cramped chaos is sumed up in this picture.

This is a larger color version of the one on  my profile. My son took it while he was playing with my camera. It is probably the most perfect picture ever taken by a 4 year old. It says more about my laundry burden than any words ever could. (That basket next to me is filled with unsorted socks... in case you're wondering.)

It's not all bad. I bring my piles of laundry into the livingroom, turn on the TV and have some mommy time. Maybe it seems pathetic that I sometimes look forward to this. I threaten to make my kids fold and they run for the hills. I can watch whatever I want for at least an hour! (The little ones haven't quite learned that lesson, hence the lap full of kids in the photo.) It can be relaxing.

I sometimes like washing dishes too. I enjoy a little time to think without interuption.

Maybe it isn't the best practice for me to do these chores instead of making my kids do it. (How wil they ever learn if I don't make them practice?!) But I take some pleasure and comfort in these simple tasks. Yes, I get frustrated when I find a stack of  folded clothes in the hamper...under a pile of wet towels. But there are worse things.