Single, Double...now Triple?!

Yesterday I did four loads of laundry.  In one day.  Four loads!  I think that is the most loads I have done in one week in months.  Let me explain...

When I was single and lived in an apartment with five other girls, I had enough clothes to where I only had to do laundry once a month.  And when I did laundry, I would usually only do two loads - one that had my jeans and other clothes in it and the other with my sheets and pillowcases and towels or other things like that.  The washer and dryer were coin-operated and a little pricey where I lived ($1.50 a load for the washer and $1.25 a load for the dryer).  However, since I was only doing laundry once a month, I could get by with only using a roll of quarters once a month.  $10.00...no big deal.  Now, though, the laundry has doubled since I got married...

Jayze and I have been married for almost a year, and not only has the laundry doubled, but the food and cleaning have doubled too.  Now I do at least two loads of laundry a week (okay, maybe it's more than doubled).  I make twice as much food for dinner than I did when I was single, and I do twice as many dishes afterwards too.  It was a little hard to get used to at first, but now it's like second-nature.  But yesterday when I was doing laundry, it hit me.  Once the baby comes, the laundry load is going to triple!  I'll have to wash baby clothes, burp cloths, my clothes more often (because of all the spit-up that is sure to make its way to my shirt and jeans), and who knows what else.  Good thing that baby is going to be cute.  But now I'll get off my little rant and just say...

I am thankful I have a washer and dryer.  Granted, it's not located in my apartment (it's downstairs in the other couple's apartment), but it's not coin-operated.  I don't have to use quarters anymore, and it's absolutely wonderful!  I also don't have to lug two loads of laundry down the stairs, while juggling the laundry soap on top of it all, walk across to the other building, and use the laundry facility there (like I did in our other apartment).  All I have to do is walk downstairs now.  And since I'm pregnant, and it's harder to drag all that laundry down and up and down again, my husband is a sport and helps me out.

There are so many people in other countries who have to wash their clothes by hand and then wait all day for it to dry.  And it's not just single people, but mom's who have more than one child.  Practically their whole day is devoted to laundry just because it takes such hard work and effort.  So what am I complaining about?  I'm going to get a cute little baby that, yes, is going to spit-up, throw up, and poop like crazy (and probably all over my husband and me), but that's okay because sometimes it's the simple things in life I need to be more grateful for.  My baby is more important than all that cleaning up.  My husband is more important than all that cleaning up.  And it's not about the laundry but about the love and service behind it all.  I'm way happy that I can hang up and fold my husband's clothes, and most of the time he'll help out, and we can talk while we fold and hang the clothes.  It's all about time.  And I'm just grateful I have a husband who does help me out.  It's wayyyyyyy better than being single and just doing my own laundry. 

So, all in all, whether or not the laundry is going to triple (and the clean up and food) when we have our baby, and quadruple and so on as more kids come, I'm glad that my husband and I have clothes to wash and dry, and that our baby will too.  Family is SO worth it. 

English Tidbit:  Since working on campus, I take just as long formatting the things I write as I do actually writing.  But...I have found that as tedious as formatting is, I absolutely love it!  It's like having milk with a gooey, moist brownie - soooo much better!  :)