Thinkin' 'bout Laundry

I was mulling over the fact this morning that I want to teach my girls some basic laundry skills (some of you are thinking I'm a little behind and others are gasping at the thought of child labor). I came up with a brilliant plan of taking photos of the position of the dials on the washer and dryer and incorporating them into a chart that I can post on the wall in the laundry "room" (which is really a hole in the bathroom :)

Anyway, in all this thought and contemplation, I was trying to remember when I learned to do laundry. I must have learned by trial and error and maybe a few phone calls to my mother after I got married because I do not remember doing any laundry when I was still at home. For those of you about ready to have a coronary at this thought...keep in mind that my mother had 4 children in 5 years then a nice space of 5 years before the next and 8 years after that before I came along. By the time she got to me, life was a breeze. I DID learn to clean the bathroom including toilets at a very early age and I dusted and vacuumed, did dishes and even helped with yardwork and kept the car clean, so it's not like I didn't do any chores. Looking back, I wonder if my mom felt about her laundry room like I feel about baking...my territory. She was awesome at getting stains out (a trait I did NOT inherit) so maybe that was something she wanted to do on her own and not trust me to take care of.

So, my question for you: when did YOU learn to do laundry?

The Next Survivor Series

Six married men will be dropped on an island with one car and 3 kids each for six weeks.

Each kid will play two sports and either take music or dance classes.

There is no fast food.

Each man must take care of his 3 kids; keep his assigned house clean, correct all homework, and complete science projects, cook, do laundry, and pay a list of "pretend" bills with not enough money. In addition, each man will have to budget in money for groceries each week.

Each man must remember the birthdays of all their friends and relatives, and send cards out on time. Each man must also take each child to a doctor's appointment, a dentist appointment and a haircut appointment. He must make one unscheduled and inconvenient visit per child to the Urgent Care. He must also make cookies or cupcakes for a social function.

Each man will be responsible for decorating his own assigned house, planting flowers outside and keeping it presentable at all times.

The men will only have access to television when the kids are asleep and all chores are done.

The men must shave their legs, wear makeup daily, adorn himself with jewelry, wear uncomfortable yet stylish shoes, keep fingernails polished and eyebrows groomed.

During one of the six weeks, the men will have to endure severe abdominal cramps, back aches, and have extreme, unexplained mood swings but never once complain or slow down from other duties.

They must attend weekly school meetings, church, and find time at least once to spend the afternoon at the park or a similar setting. They will need to read a book and then pray with the children each night and in the morning, feed them, dress them, brush their teeth and comb their hair by 7:00 am.

A test will be given at the end of the six weeks, and each father will be required to know all of the following information: each child's birthday, height, weight, shoe size, clothes size and doctor's name. Also the child's weight at birth, length, time of birth, and length of labor, each child's favorite color, middle name, favorite snack, favorite song, favorite drink, favorite toy, biggest fear and what they want to be when they grow up.

The kids vote them off the island based on performance. The last man wins only if...he still has enough energy to be intimate with his spouse at a moment's notice.

If the last man does win, he can play the game over and over and over again for the next 18-25 years eventually earning the right to be called MOTHER!

Please note that this in NO way reflects my husband. But I do know a few that would struggle to win this game :)