airing our dirty laundry

i’m starting to think that laundry regenerates itself around here. never in my life have i been so inundated with such a mundane task. there’s always one load in the washing machine, another in the dryer, one being folded, and a few more in line to start the process yet again. to make the best of a bad situation, i decided to utilize said laundry as an educational tool today. i solicited liam to help me sort the clothes before folding them. chris and i have been working on giving him small chores around the house, and this seemed rather appropriate for his skill level; but i also thought that i could turn it into an academic lesson, preschool-style. so, we went through the hamper. liam’s clothes got put in, appropriately, liam’s chair. same with susanna’s. we put mine on the coffee table, and chris’s clothes on the floor. (that’s what happens when you’re not here -- you get last dibs on clean clothes placement.) liam would pull out an article of clothing, and we’d talk about what it was, if it was bigger or smaller than the last piece, and who wore it. how would you describe it? when would you wear it? on what part of the body did it go? what would you wear with it? and so on. after all was said and done, we surveyed our work and counted how many pieces were in each pile. susanna's and my amounts were rather small. chris’s was higher, but only because he’s worked out at the gym the past few days. and then … well, then there was mount washmore, teetering on liam’s chair, about to topple over. and i was amazed yet again of how messy and klutzy a four year old boy can be. “wow,” liam said, clearly impressed with his lot. “i sure make a lot of dirty clothes.” “yes,” i agreed, my brain on overdrive. not only had we achieved some academic success using adjectives and numbers and comparisons and order, but we now had the added bonus of a lesson in personal responsibility! consequences of our actions! ooh – how about environmental impact? should i locate the laundry machine manuals, to discuss how much water and electricity is used to wash and dry each pajama shirt bearing a clump of oatmeal from breakfast? the possibilities were endless. but i paused, and decided to ask him just what he had gotten out of it. “so tell me, liam, what have you learned from sorting all these clothes?” “i've learned,” he replied, glancing over the piles once more before turning back to me, “that i’m just happy i don’t have to fold them.”