Meanigful Chore

Michelle sighed heavily as she watched the strong wind blowing the dead branches of the trees in her empty backyard; maybe spring would come soon and stay this time. She had always loved this window, but lately it seemed to be less appealing to her. She would watch her boys play in the yard, building forts, shooting Nerf guns, playing in the mud, wrestling, climbing trees, anything their little imaginations could muster up. This particular window allowed Michelle to watch her boys while doing her least favorite chore, folding all the laundry. With four boys, her, and her husband, Greg, the laundry seemed never ending. There were always smelly socks still wadded up, character underwear stuck in inside out pant legs, some type of sports uniform, and muddy clothes from backyard adventures. She had mixed emotions when she would move a too small shirt into the next youngest boy’s clothes pile; it meant that both the former and new owners were growing up. Not everything could be passed down as the boys were rough on their play clothes. Michelle saved the special shirts; the ones commemorating achievements or time in a specific activity, hoping to one day make the boys each a blanket from them.

Lately, the backyard had become empty, without the laughter of her boys and their friends. The boys were older now, more interested in girls, video games, going to friends’ houses, and working than in playing in the yard. Michelle held up a shirt and realized it was nearly the size of her husband’s. Sadness came flooding through her as she wondered where time had gone. She was surprised to find herself missing the days of colorful character shirts with matching shorts and even more so, the days of formula stains and all those little snaps. Out of nowhere, the tears began to fall. Michelle put her hand on the window and then left the laundry room, she needed a break.

 After a much needed cup of hot coffee, Michelle wondered down the hall into the older boys’ room. Travis and Matthew shared this room and you could definitely tell whose side was whose. Travis, a sophomore in college was more of a tech fan and loved science fiction. Matt, on the other hand, was a senior and star athlete; he was the quarterback of the High School football team.  The walls on Travis’s side were covered in posters from Star Wars and science fair ribbons, scattered throughout with pictures of girls from his favorite movies. His side was OCD neat, nothing was out of place. Matt’s side was a total disaster, clothes on the floor, shoes tossed into his open closet, his sports trophies on the dresser, shelf, desk, you name it. His walls had posters of his sports idols, tons of muscle cars, and of course a whole different type of girls. Michelle smiled as she could see their personalities so clearly, they were great kids. They got along surprisingly well for being so different, but it hadn’t always been that way.

After leaving Travis and Matt’s room, she went across the hall into Levi and Carson’s room. Yet again, the personalities were apparent. Levi and Carson were only a year apart, a sophomore and freshman in High School. Levi struggled the most out of all the boys, not quite fitting in anywhere, still finding his place in the world. His side of the room was a hodgepodge of Goth, hippie, skater, and video gaming with a lingering of his childhood throughout. Michelle giggled when she noticed the edge of a Super Mario poster peeking out from behind a heavy metal band poster. Carson was all video games, he was fairly organized, but he had so many games, controllers, and headphones. Their room was not as organized nor as messy as their older brothers’ room. She did notice the smell of younger teenage boys was a bit more overpowering, so she began gathering up all their bedding to wash and headed back to the laundry room.

After loading the washing machine, Michelle decided it was time to get back to the endless task of folding the laundry. As she held up their clothes, she thought of the things all four boys had been doing lately in their lives. They were learning how to drive, finding good jobs, making new friends, helping the football team go to state, excelling in their own way academically, and so much more. She was so proud of each of them! They were becoming amazing young men.

 These clothes may not be the tiny baby clothes they began life wearing, the grass stained t-ball and soccer uniforms of their preschool years, the character shirts that they had to have to match their best friends, or the random styles of their middle school years, but they were indications of the adults they would come to be. They were all taller than Michelle, except for Carson, but he would pass her up soon enough. Even so, when she heard their deepening voices call her Mom, it was still a wonderful sound. She loved hearing them come through the door, their footsteps heavier than ever as they came to find her. They still hugged her and weren’t ashamed of their friends seeing them doing so. The boys brought their girlfriends home to meet her and Greg, they were always home for holidays, and they called when they would be late.  The jeans, sweatshirts, shorts, joggers, and t-shirts may be much bigger than before, but they clothed her four favorite young men. These clothes would soon be gone from her home and she wouldn’t have much laundry to do or many opportunities to look out the window. Michelle realized that even though she didn’t overly enjoy this task, it gave her time to reflect on her sons growth and study them without them really noticing, which was a blessing that some moms may not have. Michelle’s heart was overflowing as she looked out the laundry room window again, but this time it looked a lot brighter out in their backyard.