Nightmare at the Laundromat

Today was one of those days when I really missed living close to my parents. We had a little schedule worked out - every Thursday we would go over to their house to do our laundry and spend the day with them, and usually included me making some delicious lunch, dinner, and/or dessert. This was great not only because we got to spend time with my family and have a good time together, but also because we didn't have to spend any money on laundry. Laundry wasn't a chore, it was an excuse to have a great day!


But now, things are different.


Today we went to the laundromat.


We visited Smith's Market to get a few groceries and pick up some change so we could do our laundry. Jeff and I decided that it would be more cost-effective to go to the nearest laundromat than to use the machines in our building, and we would get it all done faster too. So we (the whole family) headed over to the coin-op. Upon arrival, we realized that we had left our laundry soap at home. No big deal, they had detergent dispensers, so Jeff popped in three quarters and got a box. I loaded all the clothes into a huge front-loading machine (four-load capacity, wow!) while Jeff inspected the box. He realized very quickly that he had accidentally bought dryer sheets instead of detergent. No big deal, we needed those anyway. So I sent him back to the dispenser. He comes back with Clorox 2. By now the clothes are all loaded, and ready to go. I open the box, read the directions, and roll my eyes. Clorox 2 is bleach for colors, not detergent! Back to the dispenser!

This time Jeff finally comes back with a little box of Tide, and it's real detergent. Okay, so I loaded the detergent into the detergent place, and the bleach into the bleach place, and we start the machine. After it gets going, I read the instructions on the machine and realize I put the bleach in too soon, and we should have added more detergent (it was, after all, four loads of laundry, one of which was the nasty stuff from the bathroom bucket, namely Zaylee's wet/poopy clothes). Oh well.

The kids, through all this, were having the time of their lives, running around the laundromat and opening and closing all the machines they could reach (thankfully they didn't open any that were running). Jeff got a load of bedding going, and we stood around waiting. Zaylee and Thomas got a kick out of watching our clothes go round and round in the washing machine. I got a kick out of seeing all the stuff in the machine that really wasn't supposed to be there...like Jeff's sharpie and Zaylee's little toy balloon.

When the washing was done, we loaded the bedding into one dryer and all the clothes into another. In our defense, it was a really big dryer and should have been able to dry all of our clothes in a timely manner. Okay, so we should have listened to the lady who told us that the smaller ones heat better and the big ones were kind of old. But it was so big, and we really thought it would work!

While the clothes were drying, we took a brief walk outside, to let the kids (and ourselves) run off some energy. One of the most interesting sights on our walk was the enormous dog that, standing on its hind legs while leaning up against its fence, stood as tall as Jeff. One of the highlights of Zaylee's day, I'm sure, was when it started barking and startled the living daylights our of her. Those big dogs sure have deep barks.

We got back to the laundromat in time to learn that our bedding (in a small dryer) was finished drying, and our clothes (in a large dryer) were not. Not only were they not dry, but they were starting to smell a little funny. I guess that washing four loads of nasty laundry with one load worth of detergent isn't such a great idea after all. Next time we'll definitely use our own detergent.

We put a couple more quarters in the machine and let the kids play with the laundry carts while Jeff and I watched infomercials for some super-cool sandwich maker and the Cricut Expressions cutter. Well, it was a step up from the Mexican mariachi music videos that were playing on the other station!

When the dryer was done, I checked the laundry. Still damp. I fed in a couple more quarters and went back to the infomercials, while helping Thomas push the laundry cart in circles around the laundromat. I must have gone around that place fifty times or so before the machine was done again. But when I checked and the laundry still wasn't dry, I decided that I had had it. We loaded our damp, stinky clothes and our over-excited kids back into the car and headed home. The kids were fed lunch, and the laundry is now draped over our little-used drying rack. The clothes that didn't fit on the rack are still sitting in the laundry basket, patiently waiting their turn while they stink up our bedroom.

Man, I miss my mom's laundry room!