On Why It Takes Me 1 Hour to Fold 1 Basket of Laundry

After that monster of a title you should be afraid.

I've been lamenting lately-to myself-about my lack of productivity. It seems that I constantly make a seemingly do-able to-do list (lots of dashes in this post...) and then I continually fall short in completing it. So, I've been brainstorming. Am I just lazy? Is my age starting to catch up with me? Should I be on some sort of vitamin? It's mind boggling really, especially when I think about the amount of tasks I could get done at my old job. Notice I said could. I don't mean to imply that I always did. Because I didn't. I worked with lots of really great friends, so there was a lot of jaw flapping going on. But, if I needed to, I could crank out the work. Not so much these days.

And then, this morning it dawned on me. Here is an hour of my day broken down for your viewing pleasure. I think you will see the problem right away.

7:30~Retrieve laundry from dryer (none of your business how long it had been in there)

7:32~Run some garments upstairs for Daniel

7:33~Fold three shirts and one pair of shorts

7:34~"Mom, blah blah blah, Buzz Lightyear!! Come see! Mom! Mommy!! Come See!!"

7:35~Relent and "go see"

7:36~Fold one pair of baby pajamas, some pants and other things

7:38~Dog stands up from his bed and heads for the door. Let dog out.

7:39~Fold two pair of pants

7:40~Cat is scratching on the door to come in. Let cat in. Feed cat.

7:43~Fold some shirts

7:46~Emily is ready to finish her bottle. Feed her. Change her diaper.

7:56~Fold two more pairs of pants.

7:57~Cat is scratching on the laundry room door. Let cat out. Let dog back in.

8:00~"Mommy, I need to pee! Can you come with me? I'll miss you!" Walk Drew to the bathroom. 5 steps away.

8:03~Separate out clothes that need to be ironed. Spend a moment of silence for my ginormous ironing pile.

8:05~"Mommy, can I have computer time? i don't want Sprout I want Disney. I want to see that video where Zurg blah, blah, blah, blah. Ok, Mommy??"

8:08~Separate out clothes that need to be hung up.

8:10~Cat needs back in. Might say a curse word about cat. Let cat back in.

8:12~Declare loudly for all to hear "I WILL finish folding this laundry. Do NOT interrupt me again until all of this laundry is folded." There.

8:14~"Mommy, I got off the video page. Can you help me? Come see, Mommy! Come see, Mommy! Come see, Mommy!"

8:16~Look at the clock and realize I'd better go ahead and get dressed and ready for the day. Dress, ponytail, dab of make-up. Pick out Emily's clothes. Pick out Drew's clothes.

8:26~Match socks. Fold the pajamas. Pile in the basket.

1 hour to fold one basket of laundry.

Turns out vitamins would not really help much.