Small things

"Hey, mom, what are you up to?"
“Nothing much. Nothing I can’t put aside.”
“Where are you right now?”
“Home. What’s going on?”
“I need to do some laundry.”
Ah. Yes. I don’t want to give the impression that my son only calls when he needs something. That just isn’t the fact. It took me a while to realize the first couple of times that one or both of the boys would call and they only wanted to chat or catch up. It was a slightly odd feeling at first. You know, you look at the phone as it rings, your eyes go wide and you wonder what has happened when you see their number light up. You hurriedly answer and they are just talking, you are just talking. You go through the conversation giving them time to say whatever catastrophe may have happened. Then they hang up and you stare at the phone wondering what you might have missed. They didn’t ask for anything. No upheaval. They just called.
This call about the laundry hasn’t happened in a very long time. Both of my boys have been living on their own for a few years now and doing very well independently. I am very proud of that. My free-range kids have grown up to become self-sufficient men. It is pretty amazing to me. In fact the oldest, Sonny, just bought a brand new house. He managed to find a brand new home with all the things he wanted. It didn’t take much to convince his younger brother, Dante, to share the expenses and have a great place to live. It was a great solution to the tiny apartment they had been sharing in the past.
And that was the reason for the call about laundry. They just moved in about a week and a half ago and there is no washer and dryer in the new house. They remembered to make arrangements for the refrigerator but not so much the laundry machines. So call mom - easy answer. I have no complaint. Dante does most of it on his own (then he leaves the remaining loads for me to finish and he picks them up later). We have been through his routine more than a few times. It isn’t anything new and it doesn’t infringe on anything that I am doing. In fact, it makes me feel good sometimes to do these small things from time to time. I am glad to do the small things. I am glad to do the big things occasionally but they have managed most of those on their own.
Besides, all those small things add up to some pretty good things all the time. The best part is it doesn’t take a catastrophe to hear from them. Sometimes a really good thing can be as simple as laundry.
TT