Laundry for dummies

I was visiting the lower mainland this past weekend and stayed with my 2 oldest boys. They’re 21 and 19 and live together in a basement suite that captures that visualization perfectly… I have lots to be proud of with my boys; they’re smart with money and managing their time, they have a great work ethic and are polite and punctual and responsible. Good heads on their shoulders in many ways. Yet in some ways, they surprise me… case in point – laundry.

I was explaining to my son (we’ll call him Son 2 since they have asked me to never mention them by name; apparently being a blog subject isn’t all that thrilling 😉 )… anyways, I was explaining to him that I’m looking for a new dresser because I’m not loving the one I have now. We went strolling through IKEA with him and I (and Son 4 in tow) debating the virtues of this one and that one. I am highly picky lately when it comes to what I bring into my home…I have to love it or it doesn’t come into my life. Life is too short to live with furniture that makes you say “meh”. Needless to say he was not enjoying the fact that I found something I didn’t like about everything we looked at. The one I loved was just a little too tall (my fat older cat would never be able to reach it and make her way to the window) the one that I loved the colour and lines was only 3 drawers (come on! who can live with only 3 drawers?!) or the one that I REALLY loved was $200.00 over budget. So, as we started to walk away from the dressers without a purchase my son shrugged and explained that I just didn’t understand how to “do” clothing storage… He explained it thusly:

The clean clothes come out of the dryer and are placed in the laundry basket
The laundry basket of clean clothes is placed in the bedroom (on the floor)
As you require clothing to wear, you take it out of said laundry basket and wear it
When it is soiled and requires washing it get placed on the floor…next to the laundry basket
Over the course of time (dependent on clothing needs) the laundry basket will empty and the pile next to it will grow.
When the laundry basket is empty of clean clothes simply put the dirty clothes on the floor into it and take it to the wash for laundering
And…. voila, the cycle begins again… no dresser needed!

Now why didn’t I think of that? I’ll have to get him to explain dishes to me next time I visit….