Like most people, I get a deep satisfaction from gathering, sorting, washing, drying, folding, and putting away clothing that will return, soiled and wrinkled, to the floor within a week.
However, there is just one part of doing the laundry that frustrates me. After the clothes are dry, I hate trying to gather up all the assorted items into my arms. The other day, as I was carrying the clothes upstairs, tiny pink and purple socks dropping to the floor, I thought to myself: I wish I had some type of container to put these clothes in!
I know exactly what you’re thinking: Ruth, the item you mention does in fact exist. It’s called a laundry basket.
Well, Smarty-Pants, you should know that I happen to own several laundry baskets. In fact, it seems that every time I go to Target (which is not very often, due to temptation caused by nonessential items attractively arranged throughout the store) I buy a couple more laundry baskets. My hope is that someday I might own enough of these baskets that I could actually use one to transport laundry.
So far it hasn’t worked. No matter how many baskets I purchase, when the dryer ends its cycle there are none available. A few are downstairs, masquerading as boats carrying my children across stormy seas. Others are filled with toys and books that need to be moved to a different room of the house. But as for the whereabouts of the rest of the baskets, that’s a mystery.
I have my theories, of course. One is that burglars break in to my house every so often, and, finding only toys, broken crayons, dirty dishes and scraps of construction paper, they take the most valuable item they see--the brand new laundry basket I just bought at Target.
Another possibility: my laundry baskets are hiding up in the attic, drinking beer and swapping stories with the thousands of pens that have also disappeared from my home in recent years. I know we have plenty of writing utensils, because when I get on an organizational kick, one of the first things I do is distribute pens to useful locations around the house. Yet, the moment the phone rings, they scamper out of sight, leaving me to write my messages with a lime-green crayon.
Who knows, perhaps someday the mystery of the disappearing baskets will be solved. In the meantime, if you see me at Target, do me a favor: nudge me away from the display of ornamental storage boxes, and remind me to pick up a couple of extra laundry baskets.
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Target tip- Shop at 9:40 P.M. (20 minutes before closing time) with your list in hand. You will hustle through the store, grabbing only what you need, get to the checkout lanes, and will not have anything you didn't intend to buy. You will be amazed that you can walk out of there having spent less than $75. If I don't do it that way, I have to ground myself from that evil store.
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