Laundry Detergent

It's been another week full of laundry.  And not just the regular loads I do weekly...  Baby Girl has had some tummy trouble this week.  And we've had lots of laundry to do.  Lots of baths, too, first thing in the morning.  But lots of laundry.  I'm hoping it's some sort of bug she found -- and caught -- and that it will go away, never to return.  Because our other option is a milk allergy.  I was weaning her onto milk, and since milk allergies run on her daddy's side...  Well, we've stopped the milk for now and will try again when everything is back to normal.  And see if we get a repeat performance.

But anyway...  Yeah, so tummy trouble.  Resulting in lots of extra laundry.

And as I scrubbed out a pair of her footie pajamas -- prior to throwing it into the washing machine -- I felt a deep gratitude for laundry soap.  (And a washing machine:  specifically one in my house.)  Days like this make me appreciate the things I have which make my life easier.  Things I take for granted on most days, because they've always been there.  I've never grown up without laundry detergent.  But can you imagine not having it?

That thought made me remember a story my mother-in-law told me.  Several years ago, when her kids were young, money was tight.  She ran out of laundry detergent and didn't have the money to buy more (or something like that).  So she decided to make some.  And while it worked -- it got the clothes clean -- she said it was a bear to use and wash out.  And from then on, she decided she'd always make sure she included store-bought laundry detergent in her food storage and be sure to have at least a year's supply.

I'm a firm believer in learning from other people's experiences.  And I've never forgotten that story.  Ergo, I decided to always have a stash of it myself.  Which for us, since we buy it at Costco (and it lasts us forty forevers, it seems), means I always have a full unopened one stashed away.

Well, maybe I got a little tangential there...  I'm good at that.  The point is, when I have lots of extra laundry to do (and even when I don't have extra), I'm grateful for laundry detergent.  I throw it in the washer and let 'er rip.  And my clothes get clean.  It's a beautiful thing.

What are you grateful for today?