You see, it's the laundry. Still.

Will you all just scream if you have to read one more post about our laundry? Well I guess I can write it and you can just not read it, right? I'll feel better and I'll have no idea that you moved on to something else more entertaining. So it's a win, win.

Last week we gave the girls complete responsibility for their laundry. I'm only doing mine, Charlie's and Steve's. Awesome gig for me!

The girls had a meeting. We could hear them up in Makenna's room having a conference to decide just how this was going to work. They decided to pull their resources and their plan was that on Monday and Thursday they were each going to do a load of laundry. Makenna would do the darks, Maddie the whites, and Maya the brights. About one third of the plan worked. I'll let you guess just which third that was. The other 2/3 went undone (or at best partially started). By Friday no one had clean jammies and Maddie and Maya were out of clean clothes. So come Saturday night they were doing laundry in order to have clean clothes on Sunday.

On Monday we all agreed that this system was doomed from the start. Which brings us to Plan B. They are now each responsible for only their own laundry. They can collect the dirty laundry in their closets which means 1) they don't have to bring it down stairs every morning, 2) we're not wading through a glacier of laundry in the laundry room every day, 3) it will be clear who's not doing their work, and 4) others will not be penalized for it. Makenna will wash on Mondays, Maddie on Wednesdays, Maya on Fridays. So far so good.

As for me I need to help Maya get caught up on last weeks brights and teach her the skills to do her own laundry so she can become more independent. Maddie has the skills but not so much the desire, but I hope the lack of clean clothing and the resultant missing out on an outing or two will motivate her in time. Makenna doesn't really care to do her own laundry, but cares more that she has clean clothes.

We're baby stepping our way to independence and adulthood (the laundry only being a portion of our work) and I'll tell you this has been a hard couple of weeks. If you look at it from a spiritual standpoint, it could be because good things are happening and perhaps my resolve and consistency is under attack. We're in a spiritual battle for the hearts of our little ones. Keeping them immature and dependent well past the appropriate age for being so could keep them static in sin and spiritual infants. How much better to see our "sons in their youth be as grown-up plants, And our daughters as corner pillars fashioned as for a palace" (Ps 144:12).

You knew this wasn't just about laundry, right?

For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. Hebrews 5:13-14