This is a mystery photograph.
If I was really clever at all things computerish, it would be overlaid with a big red question mark. But I am not really clever at all things computerish - despite espousing to be a techno-genius at times. All techno-genius phenomena that happen on my computer are generally accidental or aided by a Google search and a helpful YouTube video or are created by an actual techno-genius who is not me.
You might think that this is a pile of laundry. A pile of clean, neatly folded laundry - ie done by the mother and not by the child who would roll said neatly folded laundry into a ball and file it away somewhere on his bedroom floor for future use then forget that it was still clean and put it back in the laundry basket because it was mixed in with all the balled-up dirties on the floor inevitably resulting in a shirt that's worn and faded despite only being used twice.
If you thought that, you'd be right. It's definitely a pile of clean, neatly-folded-by-the-mother laundry. But that's not the mysterious part of this photo.
The mystery lies in how these clothes made it into the washing in the first place. After all the clothes-wearer was house-sitting at a house in a
This presumption is based on sound reasoning. One of the usual residents of the house in question is often at our house and I have rarely seen her in dirty clothes except maybe for this morning when she spilt a little milk onto her pyjamas. But this only strengthens my suspicion re the washing machine. If she often has issues with hand-mouth coordination I would expect to see food-stained clothes more often, which I have not.
These clothes turned up towards the end of the house-sitting term, coincidentally just after my son, the house-sitter, returned for a visit.
So I'm left with two possible answers to this conundrum.
The first is divine intervention - a small miracle. It was a gift from above for a mother, who recently said goodbye to one son as he moved out of home and had to temporarily say goodbye to another, so she wouldn't feel so bereft and melancholy about the passing of time and her use-by-date as mum.
The second is that my son (who will remain nameless for the moment but not if he ever does this again) doesn't know how to use a washing machine or is too lazy to use a washing machine and I've failed in my duties as a mother ergo not past my use-by-date as a mother because I still have some useful life-skills to teach.
So what do you think - past my use-by-date or still got a bit of mothering to do? And will this public shaming actually work?
Mothers don't have a best before date...
ReplyDeletePublic shaming probably won't work - in my experience guys are actually proud of stuff like that.
ReplyDeleteMy lazy arsed Damn Emo pulls this stunt all the time. And up until last week she lived 2 hours away!
ReplyDeleteAnd the public shaming wont work. It is just photographic proof you will blindly do the washing!
But public shaming before said lady friend might.
ReplyDeleteSneaky!!!! Sadly* I think once a mother always a mother … especially the cleaning up after & cooking for arena.
ReplyDelete*Not THAT sad you understand.
I like that you are calling him out on it in public---let's see if this does the trick! And my son has mastered the art of taking nicely folded by mother laundry and wadding it up to launch onto the floor/into drawers as well. So proud.
ReplyDeleteHmmmm I'll bet public shaming will have no effect. Now what is that print on the yellow piece on the bottom: tigers?
ReplyDeleteClose - Tiggers as in the Winnie the Pooh kind. It's my ironing board cover.
DeleteI can't help you with this one, Char. My son just hotly told me that I "manage" him too much, and then 5 minutes later, complained about what I made him for breakfast. Unfortunately, child torture is still illegal in the US.
ReplyDeleteHaHa!! As the mom of boys also, this made me laugh!!!
ReplyDeleteLet's just say he wants you to always feel like he needs you!!! However, his future wife might not want to be so "needed!!!" Hmmm.....
Haha, busted! My friend once put his washing in with a mates who was going home to visit his mother. He reasoned that the mother would never notice, and he'd get his washing done at the same time. And it worked.
ReplyDeletePerhaps he thinks you miss taking care of him ... and need some more to do with all your spare time?
ReplyDeleteAwwww...you're riding him a little hard, don't you think? ;-)
ReplyDeleteThis post made me laugh!
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree with other bloggers about public shaming. Probably, it won't work.
Admit it. You love doing it! He wants you to feel useful. I'll go with that one.
ReplyDeletePublic shaming is encouraging - He's laughing his but off planning and plotting how he can fluster Mum and get her to write another post about him! Secretly though, I think you enjoyed the washing and folding - a sense that you are still needed! Or maybe I am projecting ....
ReplyDeleteMy 4 year old had me washing clean clothes last week after he put the dirty ones away and the clean in the clothes basket. This shows how much I care about seperating colours etc as I just shove it in and turn it on which is exactly what happened. Only when I was pegging out 10 tonne of washing I realised what had happened. While hanging out the mega basket I trod in dog poo and had a spider the size of a dinner plate land near me. You can imagine how happy I was!! I would say name and shame but really how can you be mad at pure genius!!
ReplyDelete