<p>I had a series of a million (okay, maybe eight) texts about laundry last week. Multiple issues-- first, she put stuff in the dryer first. Then, she forgot soap. Then she didn’t do the cold vs warm thing correctly. I wonder how long that load of laundry took-- eight hours?</p>
<p>My friends tease me that my son’s wife is going to hate me, because I do too much for him. It appears that my daughter’s husband will also hate my guts someday. Sigh.</p>
<p>jaylynn - Your story about future spouses hating you made me laugh outloud and reminded me of one of my favorite stories from my parents.</p>
<p>When they were first married my mother couldn’t cook. My grandpa was a baker and took care of all of the cooking as she grew up. My father had been a cook in the Navy so he stepped up to the plate and took one of his old recipies, did the math to cut it down…and made six quarts of chili !!! Didn’t look like much to him but it was the only thing they had to eat for weeks. :-)</p>
<p>Thanks for bringing that memory back for me.</p>
<p>D1 got her first paycheck ever today. It was direct deposited into her acct.</p>
<p>Hooray! A day for celebration. :-)</p>
<p>Yay oldfort’s D1! That’s a pretty big deal. :)</p>
<p>Yay for learning how to do laundry. And cook. Next thing we know, they’ll be wanting their own vacuum cleaners. :eek:</p>
<p>I had to buy a vacuum cleaner (cheap one at Target) before I left drop off weekend. It has been used several times!</p>
<p>D’s roommate brought a vacuum for their dorm and all of the suitemates use it regularly. I have to admit that D never did much vacuuming at home. I had to talk her through her first load of laundry that she didn’t do until 2 1/2 weeks after she got to school!</p>
<p>Someone made a comment about their S learning to laundry and the suggestion was for him to ask a girl. I must be a closet feminist because I was slightly offended! </p>
<p>Regardless, I’m glad these laundry moments are creating some way to communicate with you S and D’s.</p>
<p>Snowflake - if I remember right, the mom wasn’t actually suggesting he ask a girl. She was more quoting him back to himself, because he had made a comment like that before launching. Kind of needling him for a sexist joke he’d made, I think.</p>
<p>And don’t keep your feminist side in the closet! Loud & proud!</p>
<p>Oldfort - congrats to your d on her first paycheck! I have a youngun actually whoop with excitement about how big her check was the other week - lol. She just graduated, makes $11/hr and worked for 80 hours for that time period. Wouldn’t you love to be that excited over that paycheck? </p>
<p>MemphisGuy - how long before your mom was able to eat chili again? lol </p>
<p>As for the feminist laundry thing - my son has been doing his own laundry for years. If any young ladies need help, I’m sure he’ll be willing to instruct them. He even has his own Tide pods - ooo la la.</p>
<p>In spite of my influence, I think S’s GF has turned him into something of a feminist sympathizer. He was telling me about his experience with Northwestern’s online alcohol education and mentioned that he’d ended up in a tiny minority when he answered “sexist images” to a question about his biggest problem with alcohol advertising. Wondering where I’d gone wrong, I assured him it merely reflected reality and asked, “Don’t you know that every time you crack open a cheap beer, the Swedish Bikini Team magically appears?” :)</p>
<p>I eagerly anticipate the day S joins oldfort’s D in the ranks of the gainfully employed.</p>
<p>Congrats to your D, oldfort! I know that’s a great feeling.</p>
<p>boysx3, love the General Mom stories, keep them coming :D</p>
<p>oldfort, congrats on the $$.</p>
<p>H is the laundry guy in our house, so the kids call him (double :D)</p>
<p>Thanks for clarifying the remark PN. DS made it before launch, in jest. I believe that he thought it might be a good way to meet women (to feign ignorance and enlist the aid of pretty girl in his dorm)! That said, he may also be a bit sexist, idk since I have always been a SAHM and have always done ALL the household duties. Other than occasional time at the outside grill, DS has never seen his father cook, clean, shop, or do laundry or yard work. We have a very old fashioned “traditional marriage” but it works for us. We just celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary.</p>
<p>The check was big enough for her to order some “needed” stuff from Sephora. She was very excited. She has never worked before. There is something to be said of earning the money and spending it.</p>
<p>That’s neat, oldfort. I’ll never forget my D’s joy in buying her own clothes with babysitting money!</p>
<p>Laundry has always been H’s job on the weekend, together with washing the dishes when I cook. I’ve always worked outside the home at various percentages of time. S managed to slip along without doing his laundry until this last year, when I said it was time for him to do his own wash. </p>
<p>H has been a great role model for our kids and I hope both of them will feel comfortable negotiating household responsibilities with future significant others.</p>
<p>Wanted to share an idea. A friend of mine who sent her D to college for the first time this year was asking for care package ideas. Her extended family was wanting to send her something. The D plays a sport and feels she is gaining weight already so the idea of cookies, etc… was not what mom was looking for.</p>
<p>They wanted her to know how proud they are of her. So in the process of the conversation we came up with this:</p>
<p>Each family (aunts, uncles, grandpa, etc…) takes a picture of themselves holding a large paper with certain words written on it. Email the pictures to mom so she can go on any number of websites to create a collage. The final picture will have all of her family with the sentence spelled out: “We love you” or “We are so proud of you” and her name. The mom can frame it and D can always have all of her family with her.</p>
<p>I think it is such a great idea-makes me wish I had a bigger family. Plus-I have a S. Not sure he would be so into that. Although-I may do the same thing with his cat holding various words in different lazy cat positions all over the house. That he might like. :-)</p>
<p>Feel free to use the idea!! I have used Walgreens before for another collage I made. <a href=“Custom Photo Collage Prints | Walgreens Photo”>Custom Photo Collage Prints | Walgreens Photo;
<p>Ah, seiclan, I thought your S’s remark was so sweet!</p>
<p>Congratulations on 27 years! We’re heading for 25 in January. :-)</p>
<p>Here’s another non-food gift idea. D’s college is a large state university with a comprehensive health center. One of their many health services is therapeutic massage, and they sell massage gift certificates. This makes an especially nice gift for a student who feels stressed.</p>