Around and Around

Leslie watched as the clothes spun around and around. The washer was nearly done with its cycle and she was excited to help. Finally, the machine played its little tune and Leslie ran to fetch her mother. Her little hands were almost shaking with anticipation as they lifted the lid too peer inside.  

"Yup." Her mother said, "looks like it's done. Would you like to get your stool so you can help with the dry clothes?"  

Leslie nodded vigorously and ran. After all, the faster she left, the faster she could get back. Together, they pulled the warm, soft blankets out of the machine. Leslie stopped and pulled a particularly soft one closer in her chubby hands and savored the moment.  

Once the basket was full, she pulled the stepstool over to the next machine. These clothes were much heavier that the dry ones, so her mother did most of the lifting. They were not as fun to smell or hold but Leslie was just happy that she could help out. The wet clothes were lifted into the dryer and the lid shut firmly. Les couldn’t reach the button so she settled for watching the machine power up and start spinning instead.   

Next came the best part!  

Folding the dry clothes.  

Leslie ran ahead to the living room couch while her mother carried in the bins of blankets and towels. They sat side by side and folded the laundry in silence.   

About halfway through, their dog, Carnot, ran in.  

“No!” her mother yelled as the dog jumped on the pile of freshly washed blankets. Apparently, they just weren’t comfy enough because he felt the need to dig around in a frenzy. After a bit, he finally found it to his liking and settled down. Leslie and her mother collected all of the knocked down towels and began refolding them, hoping that Carnot would be satisfied with what he had.   

When they finished, Leslie went back to sitting in front of the washer and waiting. Waiting for the dry clothes to come out so she could fold again.

“Come on, Leslie!” her mother called, “it’s bedtime. We can do some more folding tomorrow.”  

Leslie knew that protesting would be useless, her mother didn’t take no for an answer (at least not so far). So, she trudged upstairs and got into her fresh, clean pajamas. Then she pulled out her crisp sheets and snuggled up to the warm, freshly dried blanket. She soon fell asleep, drifting off into dreams of fluffy towels and fresh dryer sheets.  

Leslie woke up to sunlight streaming in her window and the smell of warm crepes drifting through her door.  

Laundry day!   

She ran down the stairs, ready for anything. Les gobbled down the breakfast that her mother had made her and ran to the laundry room, only to find it quiet.  

There was no whirring of machines or the thumping of the dryer. She raced back out to demand an explanation from her mother.   

“Oh, I'm sorry Dear. I finished it up last night. I was hoping that today we could go to the park.” was her answer.  

No laundry? Wasn’t her mother just saying a few days ago that the laundry never ends? That it felt like that was all she did?  

But, fortunately, Leslie had a fast solution. If they needed laundry, she would make laundry.  

Leslie grabbed a few toys, blankets, and pillowcases from her room and trucked them all outside.   

“What’cha got there Les?” her mother asked.  

“Just some toys.” Leslie replied, which wasn’t a complete lie.  

Once she was outside, Leslie piled all that she had collected into a sandbox and went off to find a hose.   

She searched and searched and eventually found a watering can, which would have to do. The only problem was that she would have to get past her mother to fill it up. She could never understand Leslie’s plan so this had to be a stealth mission.  

She went up to the window above the sink and peered in. The coast was clear, at least for now. She booked it to the patio door and put the can into the sink. There was one small flaw in her plan. Leslie was too small to turn of the sink by herself. She thought and thought and found a few ideas floating around up in her head. First, she tried getting a run at it. This didn’t work and she ended up hurting her elbow.   

The next plan was just to jump. She didn’t have time to go get the stool before her mother returned so this was all or nothing.   

She jumped, pushing up on the counter, and reached for the tap. Her short fingers found purchase and she pulled the tap towards her.   

This mission was too time sensitive for her to stop and find a way to turn it off so Leslie grabbed the heavy can of water and returned to the sand box.  

Les dumped all of the water on top of her pile of clothes and it ran down into the sand. She got right in there and mushed it all together to make a real good mess. This would definitely require a washing machine.  

“Hey!” mother yelled, “what is going on here?”  

Uh, oh. This would not go over well. Leslie tried her best to explain but mother was not having it.  

She watched longingly at her mother putting her new dirty laundry into the washer as she thumped up the stairs.   

Being sent to your room just for wanting to do some laundry? Unheard of.  

Leslie sulked on her bed for what felt like hours when she heard a soft knock at the door. Her mother poked her head around the door. 

“Are you ready to come out now?”   

Leslie nodded.  

“You’ve thought good and hard about what you’ve done?”  

Another nod.  

“Good. Because I have some laundry out here that needs some folding and I can’t do it alone.”