We rolled back into town from vacation early on a Sunday evening and the last thing we wanted to do was unpack. So we relaxed for a few hours then called it a night. Suitcases still packed.
As the weekend went away so did all the relaxation and de-stressing from vacation.
The car we borrowed for the trip needed to be cleaned before it could be returned. I’m sure you can imagine what three children ages six, three and one can do to a vehicle after a 40 hour drive. Fast food wrappers, half-eaten snacks, broken toys, sand, remnants of a diaper blow out, all over the once pristine black leather interior. After vacuuming the interior twice, using leather cleaner, Armor All and Febreze the car was back to about 85% of it’s original condition.
My lawn needed mowed BEFORE we went on vacation, to my surprise it still needed mowed ten days later when we got back. To make matters worse, I never replaced the mower that was stolen from my garage last summer. Luckily, a neighbor was looking to made some extra cash for a school project he was working on. Lawn mowed.
Before we left for our trip, we ate or threw away every piece of food in our kitchen, which meant we returned to absolutely nothing. No groceries. No meals planned for the week. No food to pack for my daughter’s school lunch.
I also needed to unpack five suitcases. There was sand on every piece of clothing, all the toys and electronics. Even the stuff that went nowhere near the beach was sandy. Oh well, at least the sand is the same color as the carpet in our house.
I unpacked an entire bag of wet swimsuits. Apparently all the females in my family felt the need to have a different swimsuit for each day of the week. I took them all out of the bag and counted 78 swimsuits total. I wouldn’t exaggerate about this, honest.
The laundry we accumulated, oh sweet Jesus! For a brief moment I pictured the size of fire I could start by throwing them in a big pile and lighting a match. I also considered buying a fancy new washing machine, like the one that can wash 18 pair of jeans at once. Instead, I started the painfully slow process of washing load after load.
I also had a weeks worth of mail to pick up from my neighbor. I offered to let him keep it all, the good and the bad, but he declined. Luckily the mail pile was 90% junk with only a few bills to pay. There were also two phone books added into the pile. What in the world am I supposed to do with a phone book? I haven’t used one of those since 2003.
Maybe I could use the phone book as kindling to start my laundry bonfire?
Happy Parenting!
-Pete
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