Money Laundering
September 9, 2007
With keeping the house in shape like Martha Stewart on Meth, I’ve kept the laundry up at a pace that has made Daren question my identity upon returning home to find socks! underwear! and REAL FOLDED T-SHIRTS alongside REAL FOLDED SHORTS in his drawers. Gone are the days of rifling through laundry basket number 5 to find work pants that aren’t as wrinkled as Estelle Getty’s face.
We had showing after showing after open house after open house these past few days and the kids have been great in keeping their rooms clean. Dylan has earned some extra allowance through the many benefits of child labour, and Thomas has earned his 3 bucks a week by chucking his toys into the toy box before bed and showings.
Lately I’ve noticed that Thomas has been really good about putting his clothes in the hamper and it doesn’t look like a teenage girls’ bedroom with the floor missing to hills and valleys of clothes. (He used to change 6-10 times a day and throw stuff everywhere. Ahhh… my little stripper.)
With all this running out of the house so strangers could look at (but not buy) our house, I ran a bit behind on the laundry. (Not that Daren bringing back a weeks worth helps any.) I guess I shouldn’t expect the frat house to have laundry facilities when they don’t even have curtains or um, sheets on the air mattresses. Yeah.
On an aside, I do feel terrible that Daren who works his ass off all week is sleeping on an air mattress while I’m all up in the comfort of my Serta, so I’m careful to sprawl right out while he’s away to ensure even wear on our new bed. Very generous of me, I know.
So tonight after returning from a lovely dinner at my in-laws, where our Asian Slaw Salad was a hit and we had great conversation, I brought the boys home while Daren stayed there and watched the football game with his dad. The boys were co-operative as I cleaned the kitchen up and straightened the house. I grabbed our laundry so Daren wouldn’t have to go to work naked. (They frown upon that there, especially seeing as he works with 99% men. Um, ew.)
The boys’ laundry was caught up as of Friday so I thought I’d throw what little bit they had in and was surprised to see Thomas’ hamper half full. Nevertheless, I brought it all down in Thomas’ hamper and started the washer, throwing Daren’s stuff in and hoping I had enough room for all the coloured stuff.
Near the bottom, I began to pull out Thomas’ clothes, that were NEATLY FOLDED.
The little bugger earns his 3 bucks a week by cleaning his room…into his hamper.
September 10th, 2007 at 1:12 am
Well, in his defense, he did put them away…just not in his dresser. I used to do that as a kid myself, now I know why it drove my mother crazy!
September 10th, 2007 at 8:42 am
I would love to tell you that Thomas will eventually grow out of this. But Alex is 8…and he’s been doing it since he was 4. LOL.
GREAT job on the laundry though! I have a hard time keeping up on it and I can say that since school has started the laundry from the entire day is done by the time I’m in bed
It’s a great feeling!
September 10th, 2007 at 9:04 am
AH HAHAHHA!!! I totally did that as a kid. Drove my mom CRAZY. Until she had enough and taught me how to use the washing machine. I’ve been doing my own laundry since I was nine! Dangit!
September 10th, 2007 at 10:31 am
Chris - I think that is the first time I’ve ever heard “Great job on the laundry.” Can you call me and say it out loud and I’ll say it back to you?
Hillary and Anna - you’re both grounded!
September 10th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
I hate laundry! I am really proud of you for keeping up on it like that!
September 10th, 2007 at 3:26 pm
I admire you for keeping up with the laundry so well. We have clothes in various stages all over the house - dirty, dirty but can be worn again, clean, still in the dryer, clean but on the floor, etc. I can’t keep up with all of it.
September 10th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
Clever, clever…points for creativity. I’ve found all kinds of strange things in my (college) daughter’s hamper. Two pairs of shoes, one mitten, a belt, and more.
September 11th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
I hated strangers coming into our home when it was on the market…. and you always had to be ready within a short period of time,if the broker called to show the house. None the less, we did it and eventually the house did sell…By the time we sold and closed the new purchase, we were both borderline nuts…
Good luck with your home sale, hope yours go faster than ours.
Dorothy from grammology
September 12th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
You never did anything like that as a kid?? Man, you were deprived. I used to throw everything under my bed. When mom wised up to that, I started using the closet. She eventually figured that out too. I still try to get out of cleaning if I can. I’ll use any excues I can. I HATE it. Just yesterday, i used the excuse that my toe hurt. It kept me from having to do laundry.
September 12th, 2007 at 2:09 pm
By the way, you can’t ground me. I’m still grounded from when I was 8 and threw everything under my bed. You can’t ground me longer than forever…lol.
September 16th, 2007 at 5:56 am
I cannot relate to any of the neatness stuff…but my asian slaw (which I call simply Crunchy Cole Slaw) is ALWAYS a hit at parties. It’s awesome! Do you use cilantro in yours? A friend suggested I add that to my recipe and it gives it an interesting new taste.
September 20th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
[...] last few weeks have been kinda nuts.? You already know what I’m juggling daily, and I’m not writing to complain yet [...]
September 26th, 2007 at 5:19 pm
Our house is on the market, too…what a PITA.