elizabethlevett

Mondays are crazy. This is news to absolutely no one.

When I was still teaching full time, the husband was a part timer and so he picked up most of the housecleaning and all of the shopping and cooking. Now though, things are different and I realize how lucky I was to come home to a clean house every day. He was so thorough! Mondays I typically do four loads of laundry. Since we’re renters, sharing only one washer and one drier with folks in eleven other units, that means I need to hustle. The husband is allergic to scented detergents and drier sheets. (Why does anyone use that stuff anyway?) I get the throw rugs in by seven a.m. and race around till about 10:30 or 11:00 until all of it is finished. That way nobody has a chance to sneak in and stink things up before I’m done. Complicated situation, but here we are. Monday also means vacuuming and whatever else needs to happen. It’s a bit of a steeple chase. Somewhere in there, in between loads, I need a break. Usually, it works out that I can settle down with a cup of coffee once I’ve changed the sheets. This is theoretical. Aspirational.

Somehow, no matter where they happen to be, as soon as I dump the fresh sheets and duvet cover out on the bed, my cats magically materialize. Every. Single. Time. They want to play tent, blanket whac-a-mole, and hide-and-seek. They want the parachute game. (Remember that one?) They want to get in the way! But are they really out to throw me off schedule, to thwart my efforts? Probably. More importantly though, they’re reminding me that it’s okay to not do all the things on my list by a certain time and in a certain way. It’ll all get done. As my Irish mother used to say, “It’ll keep.”

My cats have their priorities straight. Rolling around in warm sheets, racing up and down the hall and leaping up onto the bed and then spontaneously falling into a deep sleep on the freshly folded bath towels in the laundry basket. These are the finer things in life. The things worth choosing. Getting things done is important. Having clean, fragrance-free laundry is important. But so is play time. I do appreciate the reminder. And yes, I do stop what I’m doing every single Monday just to goof off with these two clowns. I’ll still have plenty of stuff to do. But I’m pretty sure it’ll keep. Besides, I can start the kettle and run down to the laundry room while they’re sleeping on the towels.