I’ve finally reached the bottom of the three washing baskets – the first time in over a month. It probably won’t last long as looking on one bedroom today I’ve spotted a growing pile of unescorted, dirty washing. To match that achievement, I’ve also finished the ironing for all of those washes.

Not so long ago I didn’t bother to iron. Instead I left the shirts for the person who wore most of them, and folded most things so that they would be flattened by the weight of other clothes. Small people don’t need a lot of ironing, as they end up looking rumpled fairly quickly.

However my eldest is nearly as tall as me now, and was looking more than crumpled. In an effort to help him take pride in his appearance, I have been ironing.

I have a plan that he will eventually help with the ironing. It’s in there with the plan to have him wash dishes, do some cooking, and manage some cleaning. Eventually I hope he will grasp the life skills these tasks offer.

In the meantime I’m trying to workout how every one else manages to go through so many clothes. My pile of clean washing is relatively small compared to the mountains I have washed, ironed and put away for other people.