Laundry and Mom

I came home today after the meeting, went to my room, and immediately realized something was off. The small corner of the room that I had designated for dirty clothes was dirty clothes-less. After a hurried descent down the stairs, I confirmed what I suspected…my mom had done the laundry for me. I don’t understand why she does that (okay, maybe I have a guess; I’ll develop that thought later in this post though). I always tell her not to do my laundry because I plan on taking care of it myself, but I keep finding my neat pile of dirty clothes disappearing all the time.

I then scamper back upstairs to see what other damage was done. It turns out she had also ironed my clothes…but somehow managed to iron the collared shirt and pair of pants that had already been worn and that had been specifically set for the wash. Now, it’s not that I’m ungrateful and don’t appreciate my mom trying to do these things for me, I do appreciate it…especially ironing, since that does take up a decent amount of time. But I have a system for my laundry when I’m living out of a duffel-bag/suitcase, and when someone doesn’t know the system yet tries to help, it causes some problems…like neatly-pressed dirty clothes. (Yes, I also realize that there’s a high possibility that I may just be a bit of a control freak.)

Now while I was mulling over this, half-annoyed, in the shower, I think I got some idea of why my mom keeps on doing my laundry uninvited. Since her children have all grown up and are now relatively self-reliant, it might be that she feels she’s not needed anymore (which is not true; we still need her as our mom, just not so much when it comes to doing my laundry) and her washing/ironing my clothes is a way to maintain her feeling of worth as a mom. I guess if that’s true, then it’s an indictment of how terrible a son I am in not adequately communicating my appreciation of her. I’m also thinking that there must be some kinks that need to be worked out in the transition that takes place with the mother-child dynamic as the children become adults, but then again, maybe mothers will just always continue to view their sons as their little boys…even when they’re now twenty-six years old.

Perhaps I should just let my mom continue doing my laundry if it makes her happy.

…and leave detailed charts and signs delineating my system.