Airing Our Dirty Laundry We still haven't caught up with the laundry since returning from Russia six weeks ago. The combination of additional clothing demands from our larger family and sheer laziness has created a never-ending surplus of clothes in need of washing. The best estimate judging from the satellite view of Mt. Laundry, as I've dubbed the ever-changing pile of soiled fabric in our basement, currently puts us about three washloads away from completion.Laundry is the highlight of Zoe's early homeschooling curriculum, and she seems to love it. She looks forward to visiting Mt. Laundry with me, rolling in it as if making a snow angel. She'll start by standing by the dryer to put in the wet clothes I pull out of the washer. Then we move on to scale Mt. Laundry together. I'll call out a color and she picks out all the items of that color to create a washload and slam-dunks them into the washer drum. With so much laundry to deal with, we can create entire washloads consisting of just one color, and not just whites. Yesterday we did a blue load and then a red load. If we wait a few weeks, even lowly chartreuse could get its own exclusive wash and dry.

While I get the arduous washer/dryer detail in the basement, Sari gets the cushy job of supervising sorting and folding operations from the comfort of the bedroom. Zoe enjoys delivering each item to the proper room after receiving instructions, often one piece at a time. She's well aware that her toddler socks won't fit my size 14 feet, but nevertheless brings them to me and laughs hysterically as she encourages me to try them on.

We've promised ourselves real, paid help with childcare and the laundry upon Sari's return to the working world in January. While I'll be sorry to see Mt. Laundry go, the potential of having my own clean, matched socks available 24/7 is just too good to pass up.  ¶ 7:02 AM