Loving the Laundry

Last weekend I had the opportunity to help a local Catholic School raise some money. I used to do event planning when I worked for Morgan Stanley and someome at the school got hold of that information. Since that time I have been asked to help oiut with a few events. This one was an American Girl Fashion Show. Before you get all upset with me, let me tell you that this was not an easy situation. The connection with Girls Inc. was revealed only after a great deal of money has already been spent by Our Lady of Hope and Our Lady of Perpetual Help Schools to mail over 25,000 invitations, place ads and another $5000.00 commitment to American Girl which had to be paid whether the show went on or not. There were many meetings and the conclusion of the lawyers for OLH and both pastors was that the show had to go on but would not be repeated. So we had about 100 girls modeling over two days in four shows. The girls wore both historical and contemporary outfits and carried a doll in the same outfit. It was great fun for the girls and I really enjoyed how much their little faces were lit up as they paraded down the runway. What has this got to do with laundry? Well I will tell you. I spent all day and a large portion of the night on Friday at the school helping decorate, I spent all day Saturday and Sunday from very early in the morning until late working at the show (my feet hurt until Tuesday) and I didn’t see my children at all. Katie and Erin were in the show Saturday but I was seriously missing my family. Dave had kept up with the laundry in that he washed and dried it but faced with about twenty pairs of little girl underpants he gave up on folding. He has no idea what belongs to who and made no attempt to get the right stuff into the right drawer. Normally I am not a big fan of laundry but after having been gone for a while I was reveling in the mundane domestic task that filled most of Monday morning. There were four full baskets and I took my time smoothing wrinkles and folding things “just so”. It somehow restored my soul. To connect with my family and to perform these tasks for them brought me back to my vocation. It strengthened my resolve to never again get involved in such a big project while my family is young and needs me. It was as if God was gently nudging me, telling me that my place is here and these little people need me more than others do. I got the message. So the rest of the day was spent reading books and tidying up our little corner of the world. Erin and I baked cookies, Katie caught me up on everything everyone did while I was absent and Kevin remained glued to my feet. It was a great day