I'm not behind on my ironing, just ahead on my laundry.

Ha, Ha. Neither of those statements are true, but it sounds good. It's my new favorite saying.


Following a long tradition of woman sweating over a hot iron, tonight I must tackle my ironing pile, smoothing out the wrinkles in the clothes my husband works in to support our family, and smoothing out some wrinkles in my mind. I do not have an affinity for ironing. It is usually last on my list of chores (too often I find my husband has had to quickly iron a shirt before heading off to work). As a child my mother paid me something like 5 cents a shirt to iron my father's collared shirts. Even then I would cheat by tucking one shirt inside of another and doing two at a time.

But I have found if I can iron when the kids are busy playing and I have few interruptions, it is a great thinking chore. Meaning it doesn't take a lot of brain power to iron so my mind is free to work over a problem or plan dinner or just daydream. In fact, I find a lot of chores are like that: folding laundry, mopping, gardening, as long as I are not pressed (no pun intended) for time or have a ton of interruptions. I guess you can stop and smell the roses even when you're hard at work.

So here is my job for the evening. It looked like a lot more when it was all bunched up in my laundry room (I know, bunched up is not very conducive to quick ironing). The kids will be in bed soon and I will tackle this pile with zeal, while planning in my head the sewing project I get to do when I am finished :).