Simplifying My Life: Doing the Ironing

Laundry is my least favorite chore. It just never ends. Sort, wash, fold, put away, iron.

And long before you are done with that cycle, there is another mountain waiting for you to sort, wash, fold, put away, iron again.

This is the current laundry status in my house right now: washer is full of wet clothes that need to be transferred to the drier, the dried is full of clothes that need to be folded, the dining room table is full of folded clothes that need to be put away and the hall closet is full of wrinkly clothes that need to be ironed.

Sheesh.

I wish I had some amazing tip to share with you about making laundry easier. I don't. The only trick I know is simply to stay on top of it. If I let the laundry pile up, then it just seems to overwhelm me. So I try (operative word here) to wash as soon as I have a full load. I try to fold it as soon as it is dry (that cuts down on the wrinkles) and then put it away right away.

It's hard. Mostly because I don't like it, so there is little motivation.

But when Aaron and I had our talk about finding a better balance in our life. laundry was part of the equation.

Well, the ironing to be specific.

We were discussing ways to make the mornings run more smoothly, to have more time and for Aaron to leave the house feeling less frazzled. Besides the obvious waking up earlier, and packing lunch ahead of time, there was the ironing.

It was my idea. Because my sweet husband would never ask me to iron his shirts. But I feel pretty badly that he throws them in the drier with a wet towel to "fake iron" them and goes to work with collars all wonky, wrinkly button plackets and the like.

I need to take care of my man.

And here is my truth about getting the ironing done--it simplifies my life. Mostly by necessity I am a jeans and tee shirt kind of girl. But when I have done the ironing, I suddenly have many more wardrobe options. Some of the stress of getting dressed is lessened. I have choices. I have options.

I have ironed clothes in my closet.

I feel like a police officer who has called in for back up.

I know Aaron feels the same way. He doesn't have to search through a pile of wrinkly clothes, stuffed on the closet shelf. No more wonky collars. Just crisp shirts, hanging at the ready for him. It's one less thing to think about in the morning.

Now you probably dislike ironing as much as I do. The trick is to make a treat out of it. My goal is to do it once a week, but I have yet to achieve that. But, when I do get to it, I have a movie picked out and the time goes by pretty quickly. At the end, I have gotten through a big pile and I feel I have accomplished something.

It hasn't changed the world, but it has made our life a little bit better.

And that, my friends, is what it is all about.

How do you keep up with the laundry? If you've got a secret, please share.

Love from,

Greta

PS. If you are going to ask me the question, "can't Aaron iron his own shirts? don't you have enough to do?' Well, don't bother.

Of course he can. But the fact is, he won't. He'll keep throwing them in the drier.

Being married isn't about keeping score and making it even. It is about taking care of each other. That is why he takes out the trash and I don't. I don't like doing the trash. He doesn't like ironing.

When you love someone, you want to help them. And that's what I'm doing.

Nuff said.