Washed Out.
The couple on the main floor of our house have a new baby boy! His name is Moss. At first I was ambivalent about the name, but now it’s beginning to grow on me. (Cymbal crash!) Did you see what I did there?
Anyway, the new mother’s mother has come from Nova Scotia to stay for two weeks, to help out. And her version of helping out seems to be washing everything in the house, possibly repeatedly.
Since she arrived a week ago, the washer and dryer have gone almost nonstop from 8am to 9pm. I know that the arrival of a new baby means more laundry, but how can one infant necessitate an extra five loads a day, every day?
I’m looking forward to consistently warm showers when the New Grandmother is gone. So are the rest of the denizens of the house, I’m betting.
Some Stuff | Liz March 2, 2008
By Arwen, March 3, 2008 @ 12:17 am
It probably means they’re washing their own diapers. Without diapers, we were doing about 12 loads per week, and we didn’t really have a spit-uppy baby.
By Liz, March 3, 2008 @ 12:30 am
Hmm. Maybe that’s it.
But how many diapers per wash equal four or five washes per day?
By sarah, March 3, 2008 @ 6:53 am
Some people just love laundry. Babies add laundry, diapers add laundry, but some people will wait until they get low on clean stuff before they wash and others will wash as soon as they see something dirty. A new baby can go through ten diapers and five outfits a day, but that’s why you buy thirty diapers and fifteen outfits. When I had two kids in cloth diapers, it added about two loads of laundry every second day. That said, when my mother visited after my first child was born, I think she did really a lot of wash. Maybe it’s a grandmother thing.
By rachel, March 3, 2008 @ 7:06 am
5x a day sounds like a grandma thing, for sure. However, if you can’t get a hot shower, that is also a problem. Would it be possible to gently talk to them about the timing of the washing? Maybe ask that they only do it in the afternoon or evening, so you can at least get washed yourself before they start draining the tank?
By Pam, March 3, 2008 @ 8:42 am
Talk to them. 🙂 “When would be the best time for a hot shower downstairs (upstairs?)? Because I want to help work around your adorable baby’s laundry schedule.”
By Liz, March 3, 2008 @ 9:45 am
Rachel, if it is a grandma thing, which I think it is, it’s a self-correcting problem. I will speak to them if it continues beyond the grandmother’s stay, though.
Sarah, I think she’s washing everything ASAP instead of waiting.
By Liz, March 3, 2008 @ 11:06 pm
Sorry, Pam, you got held up in moderation.
I’m definitely saying something if it doesn’t slack soon. Part of the reason our rent is manageable is that we all watch the water and power expenditures.
By cheesefairy, March 4, 2008 @ 12:31 pm
grandmas (& others too) usually settle on laundry & cooking to make themselves useful ‘cause the baby itself really only needs to eat and smell its mom a lot.
I really like the name Moss.
Hope none grows between your toes from the hot water lackage.
(I’m sorry. I am making terrible jokes today for some reason.)
By Beth, March 6, 2008 @ 10:44 pm
I remember going to visit my grandmother when I was a kid. The first thing she did when I got there was to open my suitcase and wash everything in it, even though my mother had packed CLEAN clothes.
Notice: I am not that kind of grandmother. Wash your own darn clothes. I’ve done my share of laundry already.