Sunday, March 15, 2009

Perspectives of Laundry

I remember at the beginning of my marriage, when I first had started to keep a house, my first realization was that my laundry had now doubled. At first, I only had to do laundry for myself. Now, suddenly there were two. And, the second person might not have as many clothes as I do, so therefore, laundry had to be done more often.

Now, with the glad addition of NBD, there are now 3 people with laundry. And again, the laundry has to be done more often, with more loads. And, we host guests, and as all are familiar with, guests create more laundry- sheets, towels, and blankets.

(For all those wondering how come I can't just do one or two loads with the amount I have, the answer is: Israeli washing machine. Please G-d, maybe one day I'll be able to get a bigger one, but as of right now, 5 kilo it is.)

My neighbor with 7 children does 4 or 5 loads a day, just to keep up.
When I once walked down to speak with a great Sephardic guy who's an amazing jack of all trades, he told me that with his 9 children, his wife does 6 loads a day, minimal.

So, what's all this about laundry, and why did I deem a post worth of it?

It's all about perspectives. You see, I might think, wow, my family generates an awful amount of laundry. Are we dirty people, or are we obsessive-compulsive cleaners?

But then I remember that there are others out there with more loads, more hampers, and generally more laundry.

I might think, wow, this is a major problem in my life- I have so much dirty laundry!
(An exaggeration to be true. Mr. NMF reminds me that in the 'olden days' laundry had to be taken to the river, scrubbed on a rock or in a laundry tub, and then hung to dry. We just throw it in and 'fuhgeddaboudit'.)

I may think on certain days, wow, life is rough. Life threw me a curveball today.
But, if we use the laundry perspective, there are always others out there with more laundry than us, and more people generating more laundry. It puts things in perspective.

There should be a mathematical equation for this- I'll ask B4S to figure it out along with the
shidduch equation she's working on.

However, along with the dirty laundry comes all the good things that go with the laundry- healthy, happy people wearing clothing and living lives.

So, that's my take on life- laundry.
Excuse me, I have a load to switch to the dryer.

12 comments:

Tem said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Tem said...

cute analogy
ur soo right!

nmf #7 said...

Thanks Tembow!

Anonymous said...

I have six kids, and when they are all home we never, ever do more than three loads a day. And usually less. Even when I used cloth diapers. When you are doing a regular load you need to stuff that machine really full, up to the top but so it still closes easily. With a delicate load (higher numbers) also fill it to the top, but don't pack it as tightly. And make sure to only clean stuff when it really needs it.

nmf #7 said...

MII- you have a 5 kilo washer? I find it barely fits 2 sets of sheets...
But yes, I do only clean stuff when it actually needs cleaning- so that means I only do laundry every once in a while. It just seems to have added up today :)

Anonymous said...

NMF:
Why are using a dryer: when we are in Yerushalayim, unless our little tinok needs clothes in a hurry, we try to let things 'drip dry' - its much cheaper and tends not to take long in the warm air.
Keep up the posting
Anon613 - London

nmf #7 said...

Anon 613-London- I would do that, however, we've been blessed with the shefa bracha of rain! But, hopefully, my next load. Thanks for the tip.

Miss Teacher said...

logistics and technicalities have not allowed us to install a washing machine in our brooklyn apartment... I can't tell you how many times I have wished I could do laundry more often... it's all matter of perspective I guess!

corner point said...

Excellent post

:-)

nmf #7 said...

Miss Teacher- Ahh, so you're one of those who are forced to shlep to a laundromat. How I miss those days :)
CP- thanks!

Miss Teacher said...

yes yes poor me but people don't live in tiny little one bedroom apartments with no place to hookup a laundry station forever so I guess there's what to look forward to...

nmf #7 said...

Miss Teacher- iy"H!