The Laundry Room and Mom's Secret

My Mom does laundry in the cool, musty basement about 30 times a day. Or it seems like that. She carries enormous baskets of clothes up and down 2 flights of stairs constantly. (Don’t even bother trying to arm-wrestle her. been there, done that).  I felt sorry for her, you know. Down there, all alone, switching loads between 2 washers and 2 dryers, standing on the cement ground folding load after load. The amount of clothes that a huge family goes through is ridiculous. Sometimes it seems like she’s down there forever. Morning, noon and night.

 Today I stood in a room off the house we’re staying, folding laundry in a stuffy, non-air conditioned room. I folded 2 loads, standing on the warm linoleum with beads of sweat glistening on my forehead, when suddenly it dawned on me.

 This is nice! Even though the kids were running around inside playing and probably destroying the house, the little room was completely quiet. I listened to the quiet, because it’s so rare. I let my mind wander and think, without interruption.

 Complete silence. Peace from the current chaotic state of my house.

 Is this what my Mom feels like when she’s in the basement 47 times a day? That’s why she goes down there! It’s the place where you get uninterrupted peace, because no one dare come near those heaps of clothes lest they get wrangled into folding it themselves, or carrying an 80 pound basket up 2 flights of stairs.  No, they stay far, far away from such a place.

  Motherhood is demanding. I realize it more and more every day. For me it starts from the moment I open my eyes, because there is a baby yelling to be fed from his crib, and he usually has a poopy diaper. Then all 3 are awake and everyone wants something different for breakfast, which they do not get, and the day starts, full swing, never stopping. As Moms, we watch with our hearts bursting as our children show acts of kindness to each other, and other times we are playing ref all day long, breaking up fights, settling arguments and cleaning up messes. The need for us is sometimes feels like more than we can bear, but we press through because we have no choice. We are strong because God gives us the strength and the grace. He gives us moments of perfect joy and peace, when our hearts sing because we feel so blessed.

 And in the moments that we cannot take another second of the craziness, he gives us cool (or hot) laundry rooms to escape to. We get peace and our families get clean clothes. It's a win-win.