Empty Basket

I have been married for over 33 years now and one thing seems to be a constant. The laundry basket is never empty. When Brenda and I were first married we did not have a lot of clothes but we did not have a washer and dryer either so the laundry basket always had something in it. The basket sat below our TV and just as sure as Johnny Carson was going to be on TV our basket was going to have clothes in it. After 4 years of marriage we had our first child and decided that cloth diapers was the way to go. Now we had a laundry basket and a diaper pail that were never empty. We did get a washer and dryer, that helped but the problem existed just the same. Within 4 years we had two more children and our problem grew exponentially. Our three children became teenagers and we gave up on the laundry basket completely, or I should our children did, their bedroom floor became one large laundry basket. Our washer and dryer was begging for a vacation but we could in no way indulge them. After high school our boys all went off to college and we did catch a slight break. What happens when your kids go to college, so do their clothes. The clothes basket took back its rightful position from the kids bedroom floor. If you have ever had kids in college then you will know what happens to the clothes basket during the college years. It is used as a sled when the first snow hits campus and the floor once again reigns supreme as a dirty clothes receptacle. I'm still not sure but I believe this is a status symbol of just how busy you are with your studies, or at least that's what they want parents to perceive. Back home the laundry basket looks real similar to 20 some odd years before. Just the two of us again, no Johnny Carson, but still clothes in the basket. I just brought up a big basket of clean clothes, mostly Brenda's, I hope that basket is never empty :)