We’re on day 5 now, over the hump, and the novelty of this has officially worn off. I’m used to flat nappies, I’m used to line-drying, I’m not used to (and never will be) hand-washing.
Hand-washing dishes, sure; hand-washing eight to ten flats and four or five covers, everyday, no, no, no, NO.
I do laundry every day. I made friends with my washing machine and washing routine early on when I realised that, being no longer single but a family of four, I could fight it and hate it or embrace it and enjoy it.
Yes, hand on heart, I actually enjoy doing the laundry. We have a good machine (not excellent though – excellent would have an automatic pre-rinse); we have lots of undercover line space to hang three loads of washing: work clothes on one end, nappies on the other end where they catch the most breeze and UV rays (I could go on about the rest but I understand I’d be boring your boobies off you); and there’s something about seeing a row of neat clean flats drying on the line that I find very satisfying. A bit OCD? Me? Maybe…
But washing eight to ten flat nappies each morning BY HAND… I’m finding it so tedious, monotonous, tiresome. Rinsing, washing, rinsing and rinsing again with each item wrung out individually by hand four times. Perhaps if I wasn’t interrupted countless times to rescue a baby girl from her toddler brother and his trike, or interrupted to rescue her from the confines of her cot when she wakes, or interrupted to rush a toddler to the toilet upstairs when he looks at me and says “go go go” (repeating what mummy has been telling him to do for the last year when poops are coming).
If I had no choice, if I had to hand wash, well that would be a different story. I’d make it work somehow. I’d make friends with it. I’d figure out a way to love it not loathe it. Music would help. So would better fitting gloves and fewer interruptions. You know what else I’d do? I’d google it. I’m sure there’s a blogger out there who washes nappies by hand by choice and loves it.
But I know that the end of this challenge is just two days away. And then… oh and then… my lovely washing machine… How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
