Magic Sock drawer..

I was informed yesterday that I had about two weeks’ worth of socks and (clean) undies and that after that – I was on my own. Up until now – the (not clean) socks and undies in the hamper (and other locations) would magically transport themselves downstairs, through the washer, then the dryer, and then return by themselves folded and stacked in the top left / right dresser drawers.

My scientific observation (up until yesterday) was that the magic was somehow initiated by my opening then closing an empty sock / undies drawer, and then making the round trip from the bedroom to the basement back to the bedroom. The next day, voila!, clean socks and underwear neatly stacked and folded. I don’t think any elves were involved, except for my work shirts and slacks. There was a special bag for those, and twice a week, the bag would move to the garage, and in its place that afternoon would appear other shirts and pants on hangers, neatly starched and pressed and enclosed in plastic bags.  It was always a magical transmutation from dirty to clean and wrinkled to pressed.

Reality check.

The reality is that very simple things like this go pretty much unnoticed until you start having to make plans for what is going to happen when with this kind of event slaps you up against the side of the head.

Make no mistake, nothing your spouse, best friend, partner (all of the above in my case) does for you can be taken for granted. There are no magic sock drawers, the garbage doesn't take itself out, the recycling doesn't know whether it's a 2 or a 3, or if it's pressboard or cardboard, and there most definitely is no magic in remembering to send out the shirts.

So – for Tracy – and for me - do this: If you haven’t done it lately, take a look around you and think about what you have taken for granted from someone close to you, and make a promise to not take their activities for granted any more. The trick here is, though, you have to let them know that you know that they know that you now know what you should have known before. Otherwise - the magic of that revelation will be lost.