A friend in college would often quote his grandma on this one.
I’m going to crypticize the statement since I’m a prude.
“You know what happens when you assume? You make a first-three-letters-of-assume out of u and me.”
Assuming gets nobody anywhere.
And usually causes trouble.
A big part of this deslobification process for me has been accepting that assuming I know when it’s time to clean (or more often, when it’s NOT time to clean) only gets me into trouble. Routines help me fight my assumptions and keep our house away from Disaster Status.
Like Laundry Day today.
Last week was Wed Wibbon Week, ugh . . . Red Ribbon Week. (Seriously. Try to say that ten times in a row.)
As the kids all had various anti-drug programs at school, they also had fun dress-up days.
Dress up days mean evenings spent scrambling to find team shirts and mornings spent frantically searching for that other cowboy boot.
They also mean uniforms which were washed last Monday (last Laundry Day) didn’t get worn. Which means they’re all clean. Which means I assume . . . I could get away without doing laundry today.
I assume that if a week’s worth of school clothing is already hanging in closets, ready to wear, we could probably scrounge around and find enough socks and undies to make it for the next seven days.
But I know how wrong these assumptions always are. Just look at how I roll with doing the dishes.
So last night, we sorted laundry like we do every Sunday night. And lo and behold, there were six loads of clothes and towels that need to be washed. Which is pretty much the same amount of laundry we do every week.
Which does make sense, since there wasn’t even one Go N*ked themed day last week.
So doing the laundry today (it’s 9:47 a.m. and the third load is in the washing machine) means I won’t have TWO weeks worth of laundry to do next Monday, which I ASSUME would make me want to crawl back into bed and cry myself to sleep.
And there’s the added bonus of knowing (not just assuming) everyone will have clean undies every single day.
Yay for that.
Hi Nony!!! I love following your daily posts, and I do know what assume means, even though you put it a very nice way! You make me feel better by letting me know I’m not the only slob out there, even though I am getting better (most days, lol)!!
Truly, it becomes “Wed Wibbon Week” to teachers by the end of the first discussion that it’s coming up! 😉 It’s quite the unexpected tongue twister!!
I always loved that phrase about assuming lol. Now that we’ve moved into our new place and got settled I’m going to have to implement laundry day again 🙂
I admire the laundry routine. For us, life is erratic road-bumps rather than something to that we can predict. I have trouble with the pattern of when to make dinner, much less having laundry day.
Our solution is that it’s hubby’s responsibility is to remind me to do laundry within a reasonable time of me wanting to go to bed. Sometimes the penalty is my whining about how I would have to stay up later than intended, occasionally the penalty is that he spends his wake-up time waiting for his pants to dry. (He’s learned to look for his pants immediately, even if he doesn’t want to put them on yet. Sometimes they need more time in the dryer anyway.)
I love staying up with your articles and encouragement to keep on keeping on with deslobification. And I super love that you are a prude, too. I didn’t even let my little ones use the B U T T word. You are an inspiration to me every day. Thanks so much!
I couldn’t even get it out three times without my tongue tripping over itself… :/
But yes … I agree on the assuming part of life. My son and I have a deal. I do the shopping, he puts the groceries away (because I HATE shopping and just want to close myself in my office for ten minutes of some well-deserved, people-free peace and quiet). When I ‘assume’ he follows through on his end of our deal, I find things like frozen foods thawing in bags in the kitchen, a cat trying to get into the package of chicken for tomorrow night’s supper, and milk well on its way to becoming cottage cheese. Okay, so it’s not quite that bad, but if I ASSUMED he took care of everything that needs to go in the fridge, I’d be sorry (voice of experience here).
I also know if I postpone something I don’t want to do, or I think doesn’t need doing this particular minute, I will live to regret it. The problem is, if crowns were given for procrastination, I’d have the biggest one of all. For whatever reason, I tend to be more productive in every area of my life when I have a deadline looming. :/
Oh my gosh….my kids school does Red Ribbon Week and all kinds of dress up weeks. It drives me insane! Today my younger one was supposed to dress up like a fairy tale character. Thankfully, he looked at me like I was insane and said “Nope!” and the older ones were supposed to wear glitter and sparkles. I have a boy….whoever decided that really didn’t think it through.
Anyway, I love your posts and I’m glad I’m not the only one suffering through all the dress up weeks!!
My late father was an aircraft engineer, and he always used to say, “Never assume; check!” That, apparently, helps to prevent things dropping off mid-air.
I wash the adult clothes separate from the kid clothes. The kids each have a hamper that sunday night they need to bring down to the laundry room and file their dirty clothes in the containers marked, darks, brights, whites, lights, and towels. If things go in inside out, they are given back folded inside out. But for my husband and I it’s a whole different ball game. I’ve done something new and it’s a sanity and picked up house game changer! We have 3 hampers in our room. 1 for machine wash, machine dry, fold. 1 for machine wash machine dry hang. And the last 1 for machine wash hang. No more separating as it is already separated! No more thinking! I look at how much time I have and grab from the bin that will accommodate that. I can just dump in the washer and go. Total game changer! Laundry just got a whole lot easier. If or when I get interrupted there are no piles on the floor. I just pick from one of the three categories a load and be on my way…