I’m currently a stay-at-home dad, on parental leave. I have two lovely children: my eldest turned five not long ago, while my youngest is still a baby.
Let me share something that happened to me recently.
It all began when my mother-in-law gave me a list shortly after I married my wife. This list had all sorts of things on it, like making sure to avoid certain foods because my wife is allergicsomething Ive always been careful about. Thats crucial. But one item on the list really caught my attention: she wrote that I must always iron my wifes underwear, as apparently, if it isnt ironed, it can cause bruises in sensitive areas…
At first, I thought, well, thats just a caring mother. After all, its wonderful when a mum is so attentive to her childs needs. I followed all the suggestions on her list; it really wasnt difficult. Still, ironing the underwear was odd to me, since my own mother never ironed anyones undergarments at home.
When our son was born, we used nappies to begin with, but once we switched to pants, I automatically started ironing his underwear too. So now I was ironing for twoadding to the never-ending pile. I just carried on obediently, mainly because my mother-in-law insisted that the hot iron and steam kill all germs. She even claimed our little one was so healthy because we religiously ironed his pants, insisting it was essential for his general hygiene.
But really, this isnt about my in-lawsits about having that second child. Now, with two, I can barely keep up with everything. Im sure any parent of two, with a new baby especially, will understand. I do my best to focus on what matters most, but the mountain of maybes just keeps piling up.
Just yesterday, my wife told me there were no pants left in the draweran unsubtle hint that they needed ironing. Exhausted, I suggested she just take a pair from the unironed basket.
Later that night, my wife rang her mum to say I didnt seem to have the time to manage everything. She was quite offended by it all. And all this fuss was over a few pairs of pants.
Do any of you iron your children’s underwear? If so, how long did you keep it up? And does anyone know of a way to speed up the whole ironing debacle?
