Teardrops on the Underwear

The laundry made me cry today. Not the sheer volume of it, which in general is overwhelming as I only do laundry once a week and there are six of us. I cried while I folded underwear. When I realized I was crying, I cried harder. How lame does one have to be to have underwear make you cry?

It started as I folded child #1's undies. I only have two more laundry days that will involve his undies. He is heading to college. Some people may jump for joy seeing some of their work load lessened. But, in this case, that is not me. Child #3 is growing so fast that all of her undies are too small. I know that, but I haven't bought her new ones yet. It's as if by refusing to buy new undies her growth will somehow stall. So far, it's not working and she regularly complains and shows me the indents her too small undies leave. In my mind, if I buy her new undies, she'll grow up faster and I will be crying again at the thought of doing her laundry for the last time.

Child #2 has cute undies(she is 16). They are the kind that 20 years ago I would have loved and probably worn. Then I fold my undies. I look at them and realize they are the type that were the punchline of jokes I told 20 years ago. I dab the tears. Child #4 is wearing undies, not diapers, and only one pair a day. Some days I celebrate these accomplishments, today, folding only seven pairs of his tiny undies, I miss the diapers. I miss the little kids.

My husband has the nicest undies in our house. I think that subconsciously I make sure his undies are in good condition. I mean, he is the one who makes the money in our house. He takes care of all of us. Nice undies is my way, I guess, of taking care of him. This makes me tear up again.


The laundry made me cry today. I cried because time passed so quickly. I cried because my kids have grown so fast. I cried because my body doesn't look right in cute undies anymore. I cried because I will miss child #1 and his undies so much when he is at college, even though there is no place else I'd rather him be right now. I cried because sooner than I want to think about, my house will always be clean and tidy and I will miss the mess, the noise and all the undies.