As my morning sickness has gradually abated, I have been slowly reclaiming my household responsibilities from my husband and children. This has been an eye opening process, and I am learning some disturbing things about what they consider to be good house keeping. Such as:
The dish rag in the sink can be used over and over for weeks on end. I stumbled upon this first fallacy when I decided to wipe off the table for the first time in two months. I grabbed the dishrag out of the sink, and the stench that was released just from lifting it up made me run for the bathroom. “Guys,” I asked my brood, “when was the last time this rag was washed?” I got the usual blank stares and a few “I don’t know”s. Weeks would be my guess. I knit seven dishrags, so that every day we could use a clean one. Ironically, they are going through dish towels like there is an endless supply….
Sorting the laundry by color before washing is optional. Okay, this may be true for us, since most of our clothes are so old that there is no color bleeding happening anymore, and, even after two months of this, we did not end up with any pink socks. However, our whites have never been dingier and I wonder where I went wrong in the training of my kids in the laundry department. (To be fair to the kids, I think this was a decree made by the Papa…)
The baby’s diaper must be changed only when solids are present. Now, I don’t know if this is actually what they think, but it must be close. How do I know? Exhibit A – one package of diapers (34 diapers) seems to last about three weeks. And, Exhibit B – every time I say, “Hey, can somebody change the baby?” I hear in response, “Why? Is she poopie?”
When putting away the dishes, just shove them wherever they fit, especially the pots and pans. The other night I decided that I felt good enough to make dinner. First, since The Man has been doing the grocery shopping and the cooking, I didn’t know what we had in the way of food and found myself rummaging around in my own pantry feeling like a stranger. Then, I couldn’t find anything I was looking for. The spatula, the pot-holders, a clean dish towel?
You may be wondering how these things could slip my notice for so long, but, really, that is how sick I have been. And, in a way, it makes me feel good, because now I know that they really do need me. Now, if I could just figure out where they have put my little saucepan…
And, guess what? Knitting is happening again! Yay. Unfortunately it is not the “oh, I just feel like knitting” kind of knitting, but rather the “oh my gosh, Christmas is almost here and I am nowhere near finished with _______” knitting. The Man, being so wonderful and good natured, said, “Don’t sweat it, Babe. Just buy something different for your sister.” That was before I told him how much I spent on the yarn…. Yeah. I better get back to it.
