The laundry issue decided

Wednesday, 2:21 pm

By Kate

May

16

2007

The Dad turned up on the doorstep yesterday afternoon. I looked at him kind of blankly and said, “I wasn’t expecting you.” Then we both kind of displayed those half-grins that said, “ohhh...right.” Some things about the lad never change. They had made arrangements to spend the evening in Boston having dinner and taking in a play (Confessions of a Mormon Boy). The lad forgot to mention it.

The Dad stepped into the living room and glanced at the remaining bags of dirty laundry on the floor. “Has he done any of it yet?” the Dad asked.

“My washing machine has been running non-stop,” I said. “There’s just a ton of it.”

“[stepmom] sent him a bag of quarters toward the beginning of the semester. It should have been enough to wash all this stuff. Obviously he spent the quarters on something else. For crying out loud, all he had to do was open his door and walk three feet across the hall to the laundry room.”

“I sent him some quarters, too. You know, J was over the other day and suggested packing him and all the laundry in the car and dropping him off at the laundromat. I’ve been thinking about it.”

The Dad’s eyes lit right up. “OH! Excellent suggestion. It’ll force the issue and he’ll have it all done in an afternoon. I can see bringing some laundry home, but this is everything he owns. Let him spend some quality time at the laundromat. And when he gets his first paycheck, have him repay the quarters he’ll spend doing it.”

Sooo...last night when he came home, I told the lad that the decision had been made. The Dad strongly concurred. Insisted, even. The lad is going to take all his dirty laundry downtown in the next day or so.

“No way,” he said. “I’m not spending an afternoon in the laundromat!”

“Oh yes you are.” I said. “Or we could spread it out over a couple of weeks, if you’d prefer.”

I couldn’t help grinning about it.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“Well, a little. I don’t know what you did with all your quarters, but clearly none of it went toward laundry. I expected you to bring some laundry home, but not 30 loads of it. And I don’t want it sitting on my living room floor for the next three weeks. You’re going to the laundromat. Next year, do some laundry.”

He’s not a happy camper, but I am.