In this house, the ironing takes at least an hour a week. I know many well organised people who either don't iron or take far less time than this but an hour is a best I've ever managed. The plus side of this is that I have an hour of relative quiet, after all, there is no way I could iron with my toddler around!
In the last few weeks, I've enjoyed listening a to unaccompanied psalm singing. Psalm 102 v26 seems especially appropriate while ironing. There is even room on the ironing board for a psalter.
"The earth's foundation firm and fast:
Thy mighty hands the heav'ns have made
They perish shall, as garments do,
But thou shalt evermore endure;
As vestures, thou shalt change them so;
And they shall all be changed sure;
But from all changes thou art free;
Thy endless years do last for aye.
Thy servants, and their seed who be,
Establish'd shall before thee stay."
The last couple of weeks, I've listened to some talks by Joel Beeke, from Heritage Reformed, in the US, on teaching children piety. The first is about what piety is and the principles and the second is a very practical, convicting talk about steps we can take in bringing up our children. I was challenged. This particular talk is worth another listen with the next set of ironing.
I love that psalm, we listened to it a lot when we used to have a long drive to church.
ReplyDeleteRe ironing, I never did it when my toddlers/infants were around, which meant I did the ironing late at night when they were in bed. Which led to a slightly embarassing moment (14 yrs ago?) when I was in a friend's house with three or four infants and she took out her ironing board, and Const (aged 3) said "what is *that*?" (like she'd never seen one before.
Lol she probably hadn't, since I always ironed after she was in bed
As they got older (and ironing increased) I used to use the time to phone my mom (just had to be careful which hand - I am almost ambidextrous - I put to my ear, and which on to the shirts.
Now we've moved to almost no ironing. We invest (it's not cheap) in non-iron shirts for dh's work; and buy children's clothes that don't need ironing.
And the teenagers can iron their own when it matters.
An hour a week is pretty good for a five-children family.
Life is short. I can live with creases. It is important that dh looks well dressed in his job, but the investment in non-iron shirts (from the US) has proved worth it.
Haven't listened to all the JRB talks yet, but I will, he has a lot of wisdom to impart, and there is much we can learn from him
Love
Hx