A two-task list

During the continuous rainy days, I made a to-do-list for the day the sun generously scatters its luminous light all over my region again. That sounds-great list is actually composed of two entries:

1. Clean the house

2. Wash the stuffed animals

The time had come. It was Thursday and the sun shone brightly in the sky, signaling it was time for me to become more diligent and active, be it for a day!

Task 1: Clean the house

It went smoothly as I have done this job quite often. The only difference is this time, I could beg for no help from my mom and my sister. It turned out that doing this job without mom by my side instructing me to clean this or that, or reminding me to watch out for breaking her vases was more comfortable. The only observer was perhaps the dog which ran about in the yard when I was rinsing the mop and sometimes looked into my house with his tongue sticking out.

Mission 1 completed!

 Task 2: Wash the stuffed animals

The work of washing stuffed animals is nothing different from washing normal clothes, at least that’s what I learn from my experience observing mom doing it back to 4 or 5 years ago. Yeah, I last had my stuffed animals washed that long time ago, and virtually left them untouched for as long as 2 years or so. I remember making a pledge to the little innocent, unable-to-talk animals that I would never leave them, but now it is painfully true that I spend too little time for them. Fearing that people would laugh at me on discovering I am still playing with stuff animals is one reason, but having so many distractions is another, which is also the major, I admit.

I didn’t ask Mom for instruction on how to wash those toys, and I just went for it, doing everything I reckoned was right. And I pumped the water into the washing machine, added some detergent, eagerly dipped the little things into the drum, and started the automatic washing process. When mom came home and checked what I’d done, she went furious for I had used 1½ cup of detergent while I should have done with only one-third of that amount. She shook her head disapprovingly and explained to me how many clothes could be washed with that lavish amount. To her, waste is a sin. I felt somehow relieved when she stopped nagging, and all I could do next was pray that no more trouble would occur until the washing process was finished. But…

I was washing the dishes when I heard some noise upstairs. My sister accidentally became the victim of this mess, just because my mom thought anyone who ever played with these animals must be responsible. And the problem was, the biggest stuffed animal (a big panda) is so heavy that it sank to the bottom and absorbed all the dirt from other animals. As a result, his fur transformed to a dirty dark color and my sister had to wash him by hand. I must be grateful to her a lot for she had done the job I was supposed to do. My mom was much angry about this unexpected second wash for a single toy! So she decided to let the machine perform the task “spin” only. You know, the washing process must go through several stages and if you want to jump to a certain stage, you must operate the machine in some way. My mom, she sure knows how, but not me. However, she was too out of patience to help me solve the problem I had triggered off. This means I have to do this all alone despite the fact that I risk making another mistake. Hell, yeah, I did cause trouble again and did drive my mom crazy, too :( I hit a button repeatedly as if I weren’t aware of what I was doing, and this made the machine malfunction, I guess, by looking at the timer. Discovering my guilt, my mom hit “stop” button and pulled the big fat panda out of the machine, threatening me: “That’s enough. You’ve ruined the washing machine. Let’s see what your father will do about this.”

 I held the animals and went straight to the terrace to dry them under the sun. I kept thinking why mom reacted like that. It seems like the properties should be valued above all, even her daughter’s childhood souvenirs. These stuffed animals meant the world to me when I was small. In other words, they are a part of my beautiful younger years. Isn’t it wonderful when you have an animal kingdom of your own, and you can put the lovely animals in a setting and pretend that they are starring in a movie? Adults are usually apathetic to the little things especially if they don’t bring about any physical benefits. I am afraid I will grow to think that way, but I will try not to. Nevertheless, after thinking for longer, I concluded that both sides have faults. And the tense atmosphere broke out when one was too assured that the other was wrong. Anyway, we will come to peace. Thinking so, I clipped the animals by the ears on the clothes-line, kissed them goodbye and let them sunbathe for a while. 

Sunbathing animals :)