I did mention something about choosing to keep silent in my last post, didn’t I? Well, not long after that, I made a conscious choice of deciding to speak up and maintain some healthy boundaries for myself.
And yep, you guessed it- I spoke up over a load of dirty laundry!
I had a couple of short solo trips following our summer adventures and was playing catch up on work and home tasks before heading out of town once again. I had my ‘to do’ list neatly organized in my head: what needed to be taken care of before leaving and also planning ahead once I returned home.
Well, didn’t that list just get a big NOT put in front of it when Buddy surprised me by doing some laundry while I was gone. A little fun fact that my children had learned during their college years: Mom likes(well, actually insists upon) doing all the laundry!
I acknowledge the importance of fostering the transition from teenager to adulthood and independence!! But I also found a weird sense of accomplishment and ‘Momness’ when the kids’ clothes once again smelled like a fresh rainforest during their visits home from college.
So, when I returned home from my trip with my dirty jeans and getting ready to ‘make a full load’ –we are in the midst of much needed water conservation- and WHAT?? …..no clothes in the laundry basket waiting for me!
This really isn’t a story about dirty laundry(literally!) but more about setting healthy boundaries. Now you might think I’m really stretching a story here; but in all reality, the clothes provided a good opportunity for a communication moment that extended well beyond the laundry room!
It was healthy for me to speak up and share that I both appreciated and understood Buddy’s motivation to help and needing to be productive. I also expressed the importance of communication in what each of us expected with this new division of labor following Buddy’s retirement.
But…. laundry will forever fall under my job description in this castle!!