My college sophomore came home after final exams to visit for Mother’s Day. Her initial question was “What do you want first – your present or my laundry?” Of course that was followed by “What are we doing for dinner?” Pressed for time to do weeks of laundry in a few hours, I of course voted to get that project started. Sorting is a necessary first step, but always a topic for debate with a college student. Coming from the generation of instant gratification, she claims that it takes too much time. I’ve watched her skip that step in the past, stuffing the washing machine with a mixed load of t-shirts, pink towels and white socks. Separating by color and temperature is one lesson I can’t seem to drive home. “It’s easy, just wash everything on cold,” she instructs. As if I’ve been over-working myself all of these years! Having learned to choose my battles, I confess I’ve had to leave the room to not lose the tip of my tongue.
My doing her laundry is a labor of love, a way to believe she is still dependent on me for her care while allowing her to relax and de-stress in familiar surroundings. It allows me to reconnect as I sort. “That shirt is cute – when did you get it?” I come across a band-aid. “Did you cut yourself?” I unearth sweatpants covered with dog hair. “Do you think having a puppy is a good idea for college students?” Whiffs of perfume fill the air. Fortunately, Mom’s detergent is fragrance-free, so there won’t be a clash of scents when she wears that new shirt later. As I dug through the hamper, my living room filled with piles of colors – where were the sheets? – she yelled for me to stop! “The stuff at the bottom is clean from the last time.” She implored me to start using the sniff test to determine when I reached the “clean” items. Yikes! They may have been cleaned at one time, but were now too wrinkled to wear. Surely I’d checked off iron on the campus supply list. I’ll have to be sure to add to her supplies with a present of my own – bottles of adcoeco – so she can be just like mom.