Laundry X Games

Originally uploaded by laundrylessons.

Laundry X Games
Did you watch the X Games over the weekend? You know when skiers, snowboarders and snowmobilers, test their fortitude and good sense, by jumping, spinning and flipping through the winter air. The X stands for extreme, as in push it to the limit and forget what your mother told you about safety. These athletes enjoy the adrenalin rush they get from testing their boundaries. But I don’t get it. I don’t like extremes. Mothers with four kids just don’t need the extra jolt of danger.

My laundry hit the extreme this weekend too. So as far as the wash goes, what is the most intense wipeout that can occur? The broken down dryer with a load of wet towels in it? NO. Forgetting to turn the dial to delicate when the washer is loaded with your daughter’s favorite dainty sweater? NO. Pulling out a load of whites that all host a slight tinge of green, thanks to a wayward green towel? NO. That stuff is the bunny slope.

Laundry, in the extreme, includes a leak, that filters through the floor, and down to the basement, ruining the ceiling tiles that were just replaced last winter. Oh yeah, I feel the rush.

I wasn’t home when this happened, so I lost some of the “in the moment” panic that hits when you know the stationary tub is backed up because you dumped paint down it after your redecorating project and you can hear the steady drip through the floor. Yeah, too bad, it was kind of like watching the X Games on TV versus feeling the spray of snow in your face.

So the good news is we still have a box of ceiling tiles left over from last year. And, the problem seems to have corrected itself now that the sink is draining, allowing the washer to drain too. Ahh, but for the day, I was the flying mom, hurling myself from upstairs laundry room to the basement every five minutes of the wash cycle, checking for leaks. The adventure of sliding in my socks across the floor, the rumble of the machine as it switched from rinse to spin, and the thrill of victory, knowing I’d won in the second heat was all the extreme I needed for the day.

All those extreme athletes wear stickers on their helmets. They endorse products like Red Bull and Monster, highly caffinated and sugared drinks. I guess they need to keep their buzz going all day. But after my Laundry X Games I feel more like a cup of tea and a nap.