This morning, I went to the laundry room and propped the brick back against the dryer ‘on’ button. It began to whir. This was at least the 5th time I’d propped the brick back in place for this single load.  I heaved a heavy sigh – laundry is SO difficult.

Then, as I sat down with my cup of coffee and the morning paper, I realized it is Monday morning and I had the good sense to laugh at myself.

Monday was always laundry day on the farm. All the dirty clothes went down the laundry chute to the basement where Mom sorted everything into piles, pulled the washing machine and rinse tubs out from the wall, filled them with water and began the all-day task of doing the laundry.

In summer, she carried baskets of wet clothes outside and hung them on the clothesline. In winter, she hung each item from lines stung along the basement ceiling.

Laundry took much of the day and it wasn’t light work. Yet, Mom had it easier than her mother who took in laundry to support herself and her daughters and used a hand-cranked washtub to do it.

Our dryer is temperamental. The only thing wrong with it is that the ‘on’ switch doesn’t stay on, despite my husband’s diligent efforts to fix it. We’ve devised the brick as an interim solution until the day when we both throw up our hands at the same time and agree it’s time to replace the machine.

This Monday morning, as I prop the brick in place and think about laundry day 50 and 100 years ago, I believe I will try not to feel quite so put upon. Wishing you all a modern laundry day!