Hello, my name is Liesl and I am a kindergarten mum.
My house is filled with objets d'art constructed from cereal cartons. I have been know to wear jewellery fashioned entirely from string and bottle tops. I prepare snacks in consultation with a hallowed list called all-the-time-foods. I spend a lot of time cleaning sand out of shoes and pockets. I am a dab hand a differentiating abstract scribbles; telling the self-portraits from the diggers. I volunteer part-time as the kindergarten treasurer and do the books whilst sitting on teeny tiny chairs. I think life's greatest mystery is why its only the aqua poster paint that won't wash out of clothes.
I do most of this with a smile on my face and a (children's) song in my heart ... and frequently with unbrushed hair and teeth and food splattered track-pants.
But I have a secret. Being a kindergarten mum is not all beer and skittles. Each week at our kindergarten, families take turns to do a huge load of laundry: table cloths, smocks and hand-towels. Don't tell anyone, but I detest doing the washing. You see I know the sorts of things pre-schoolers do ... and it aint pretty.
When I look in that laundry bag, all I can see a giant petrie dish; a big festering bag of e coli.
The once-colourful little hand-towels that someone's nanna so lovingly machine embroidered, look crusty in that laundry bag; a deep shade of brown-grey. So I've offered to make a new set. I have a piece of Pippijoe's sweet Kiddy Up print (pictured above) to applique a cute little kiddy face onto each towel. The new towels will be bright and fluffy and untainted by a the wipe of a hand, nose ... or something altogether worse.
"a big festering bag of e coli."
ReplyDeleteLOL and eww :p
good for you making them new towels, I am sure the other people that do laundry will thank you!
You're a good woman. That fabric is awesome.
ReplyDeleteJust prepare yourself for when your gorgeous, bright, fluffy and beautifully appliqued hand towels come back to you when it's once again your turn for the big wash... you know you can't trust those little germbags to appreciate your efforts as they wipe those hand towels on their snotty noses... or worse!
The new towels will look great! Thanks for bringing back the joy of being a Kindergarten Mum!
ReplyDeleteOur school used to have a cake raffle each week - if you won the cake you got to do the laundry as well - I can remember the excitement on my kids faces when we "won". (You then had to supply the cake for the next week!)
Eeeeeew surely the Treasurer doesn't get stuck with the washing too!
ReplyDeleteThose towels will be so much cuter once they've been Pippijoed and Hoppo Bumpoed.
They are gonna look sooooooo cute. But Im with Nikki be prepared for when they turn into a festering pile - it will be heartbreaking!
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh, I did exactly the same thing, just not with such cute fabric! Something definitely EEEWW about pre-school washing....
ReplyDeleteOh I hated when it was our turn to do the mowing...hated it!!! actually I hated fruit / morning tea duty as well. I also hated the washing....
ReplyDeleteUmmm, But I did like making instruments, and storytime , and excursions...
I was on kinder duty today and I have a bag of festering e coli ridden who knows what destined for my washing machine tomorrow along with hot water and healthy dose of napisan!!!
ReplyDeleteThey must loove you for making them a whole new set!
What an amzing Kinder Mum you are- if only there were more of you out there (from a kinder teacher)Most kinders have got rid of the skanky towels, some use paper and all new centres have hand dryers! You can proudly add that you are doing your bit for the environment to your good deeds list!
ReplyDeleteYou are a certifiable legend.
ReplyDelete