Attack of the laundry...but not in the way you'd think. I have the usual ongoing struggle of maintaining a victory over my laundry by not letting it pile up dirty, or pile up clean but unfolded, or pile up clean, folded, but not put away.
Recently, however, my laundry is out to get me in a more terrifying, insect-based way.
It started with all the moths in the neighborhood deciding that me leaving my laundry out on the drying rack overnight was an invitation for them to take up residence in every seam and crevice of our clothing they could find. I wasn't totally surprised by this since I remembered that my friend Nancy had mentioned the same thing happening to her in Egypt. I did my best to get the laundry in each day by dusk, but it didn't always happen. The next morning, I paid for my negligence by having to shake each item of laundry sharply enough that it would snap, to get the moths off (you know how stubborn they are). Each time, I hoped I wasn't gripping the piece of clothing right where the moth had chosen to snuggle in.
(It wasn't like every single piece of clothing had a dozen moths on it. Only one or two items out of each load had one or two moths on it. BUT THAT IS PLENTY. I hate moths.)
Anyway, I thought I had the moth situation under control. Then came the bees.
Yesterday, I was putting the laundry out to dry on the rack when I noticed that there were bees flying around me. I shooed them away but they kept coming back. At first, I thought maybe my precious fabric softener was attracting them. But then I saw that they were coming from the laundry rack itself, specifically from these holes:
YIKES. I left the rest of the laundry un-hung and went inside.
Of course, that meant the clothes hung there all night long, and I woke up this morning knowing that if I ever wanted to wear those items of clothing again, I'd have to battle moths and bees first. Attack of the laundry, and how.
But when Magdalena and I got home from our run, I saw the laundry inside, tucked neatly in the basket! Jeremy had taken one for the team and brought it in for me. Thank goodness. I was just about ready to write off those clothes as a complete loss, burn the laundry rack, and start over. Turns out we're taking the slightly less drastic measure of spraying the rack with Raid, taping up the holes, and trying again.
So for now, I'm back to battling the regular laundry monster of avoiding pile-ups. And you know what? Somehow that doesn't seem so bad anymore.
Recently, however, my laundry is out to get me in a more terrifying, insect-based way.
It started with all the moths in the neighborhood deciding that me leaving my laundry out on the drying rack overnight was an invitation for them to take up residence in every seam and crevice of our clothing they could find. I wasn't totally surprised by this since I remembered that my friend Nancy had mentioned the same thing happening to her in Egypt. I did my best to get the laundry in each day by dusk, but it didn't always happen. The next morning, I paid for my negligence by having to shake each item of laundry sharply enough that it would snap, to get the moths off (you know how stubborn they are). Each time, I hoped I wasn't gripping the piece of clothing right where the moth had chosen to snuggle in.
(It wasn't like every single piece of clothing had a dozen moths on it. Only one or two items out of each load had one or two moths on it. BUT THAT IS PLENTY. I hate moths.)
Anyway, I thought I had the moth situation under control. Then came the bees.
Yesterday, I was putting the laundry out to dry on the rack when I noticed that there were bees flying around me. I shooed them away but they kept coming back. At first, I thought maybe my precious fabric softener was attracting them. But then I saw that they were coming from the laundry rack itself, specifically from these holes:
YIKES. I left the rest of the laundry un-hung and went inside.
Of course, that meant the clothes hung there all night long, and I woke up this morning knowing that if I ever wanted to wear those items of clothing again, I'd have to battle moths and bees first. Attack of the laundry, and how.
But when Magdalena and I got home from our run, I saw the laundry inside, tucked neatly in the basket! Jeremy had taken one for the team and brought it in for me. Thank goodness. I was just about ready to write off those clothes as a complete loss, burn the laundry rack, and start over. Turns out we're taking the slightly less drastic measure of spraying the rack with Raid, taping up the holes, and trying again.
So for now, I'm back to battling the regular laundry monster of avoiding pile-ups. And you know what? Somehow that doesn't seem so bad anymore.