The Great Laundry Standoff

I've been thinking about this post for quite a while now. One year, four months, and seven days to be exact! (I know that because that's when I first started this draft and I'm finally getting around to completing it!)

When Ross and I got back from our honeymoon, we decided to unload our suitcases in the basement, right by the laundry room. Most everything needed to be washed, so we thought this made the most sense.

Side note:  Before we were married, we discussed the way we did our laundry, like if we separated our clothes by color, by the water temperature they were to be washed in, etc., and found that we had differences in how we did this. Ross separated his clothes by water temperature and I separated my clothes by color. I also like to wash my jeans in their own load, whereas Ross will put his jeans in with his shirts. We talked about how our different ways would mesh once married, if we would go by Ross' method or go by my method. We didn't really come to a definite decision on this, kind of just forgot about it after discussing it.

Back to the main story:  Once we got our suitcases downstairs we started unloading them and separated them into piles. Ross put his clothes in his piles and I put my clothes in my piles. After the clothes were sorted we just stood there looking at each other. And then we looked down at our clothes piles. And then we looked at each other again. Our clothes were sorted in such different ways! Mine were all sorted by colors:  whites in one pile, jeans and pants in one pile, darks in one pile, and lights in another pile. Ross's clothes piles had mixed colors and definitely did not have the solid color scheme going on like mine did.

I don't remember who finally broke the silence, but one of us did and we discussed how we were going to wash our clothes. We wanted to wash them together, thinking it would be silly to do all of my clothes and then all of his clothes. That would be a waste of time and water. Again, I don't remember specifics, but I do know that it ended up okay and our laundry got done. We decided that we didn't need a set in stone way to do our wash and whoever was doing the wash would decide how it would be done. So when I do the wash, I sort how I want, and when Ross does it, he sorts how he wants.

I remember wanting to laugh at the time this happened, thinking it was like we were at a great standoff!  I guess it was just one of those things you learn about each other when first married. And I think you had to be there to fully appreciate the humor in it!