The Colors of Crayola

Saturday morning, we were going about our normal routine. The kids grumbled about doing chores. It's so funny how they complain about doing it, but once they get started, they seem to really enjoy it. On Saturday's the kids work with me for a half an hour. They don't have assigned chores because the same things don't always need to be done.

On school days, they have to do 10 jobs. Depending on how busy they are with sports and homework and how much I get done while they are gone, determines what kind of jobs they get. Sometimes it is as simple as taking the newspaper out to the recycling bin or putting away a pair of shoes. Other days they have jobs like unloading the dishwasher or vacuuming a room. I think it is good for them to learn how to work. We like to turn on music while we work.

Anyway, I had the kids come into the laundry room so I could send each of them up with their clothes. While they were upstairs, I started to pull out the laundry from the dryer. I noticed something strange. Everything seemed to be covered in orange spots. All of the sudden- horror! Honestly, it was awful! I pulled out of my dryer, an orange, empty, Crayola wrapper! Empty because a full size orange crayon had melted into our clothes!!!!

Flashback When I was in 7th grade, my mom thought it was silly to spend more than the minimum on clothes, so I started to buy my own. She also was a fan of teaching her kids the value of work. I did my own laundry. I did an entire load of whites, with a tube of red lipstick in the pocket of my Guess jeans! We bought everything under the sun to try to get out he red. I don't think anything was saved.

Friday I taught a class on Friday and my assistant- I'll have to post about that another time- came over to watch Ashlyn and do some things around the house. She calls laundry a "hobby" of hers, so I usually have her throw in a load or two of the kids clothes when she is here. There wasn't enough kids laundry for a full load, so I gave her some of my laundry.

It was so sad. Austin and Jessica came in and I was just holding a few pieces. I'm sure my jaw was still on the floor. Jason came down to get his next assignment- I love Saturday- and saw the orange spots on some of his favorite shorts. "What happened ?" I handed him the crayon wrapper.

"What's my next job, Mom?" Austin asked. He somehow didn't notice his green shirt could have been a leopard print!

"Honey, could you turn down the music? We'll finish up later, okay?" I managed to get out.

A few minutes later, Lauren came down with her head hung down. "Mom? It was my fault. I put the crayon in my pocket. I accidentally left my class with the crayon in my hand. When I went back to put it back in my class, the door was locked so I just put it in my pocket."

I was a little distracted by the spots I was now trying to remove from one of my favorite shirts. "It's okay, Lou."

She walked out slowly. I tossed Jason a shirt as he set up the ironing board in the hall so we could have more room to work. There was still clean, folded laundry on the counters. "I guess it is a good time to try out my magic cleaner!" Jason had teased me for being a sucker when I bought cleaner from a door to door sales person for some crazy amount of money.

We started working on the spots and I went into the kitchen to find another rag. I saw Lauren sitting on the couch all alone, with her head still hung. I put down my rag and gave her the attention I should have the first time. I put my arms around her and told her my lipstick story. I told her we weren't mad at her at all. We were just worried about our clothes. "Is is going to ruin all of our clothes?"

"I sure hope not," I said.

"Can I help get the spots out?" She asked. Lauren loves her clothes as much, if not more, than any grown woman!

What a sweet girl. I told her she could help and that I was so proud of her for telling the truth and taking responsibility. She was proud of herself for saving a pair of Austin's basketball shorts.

It was actually really nice to work together and I have to say that my magic cleaner really is magic! One of Jason's Polo shirts and a couple of pairs of shorts survived. My favorite knit shirt made it! Some stuff was just too covered and may not have lasted more than another month when the weather changes. By the time some of the clothes would be in season again, the kids would have grown and needed new ones anyway. I was okay with a few orange spots on my pajamas and work out shorts. I said goodbye to a favorite T-shirt. It would have taken hours!

The funniest part of it all was Jason puling out the camera! "This one's for the blog!"

Nice. So, here I am in all of my Saturday morning, pajamas, no make up and awesome hair, glory! Thanks Babe!