I have a dream.
A dream that one day I will hang a fresh dish towel at the beginning of the day, and at the end of the day, that same dish towel, limp but undefeated, will be hanging in my kitchen.
It will not have been sacrificed to spilled milk (SPILLED MILK! AGAIN!) or to a clumsy cook (WHY am I clumsier on homemade-marinara day than on frozen-chicken-nugget day?).
It will not be grabbed by a thoughtful husband to mop up the mud on the floor (MUD ON THE FLOOR!), or by a desperate mom to wipe a toddler’s snotty nose (SNOTTY NOSE ON THE DISH TOWEL!).
It will flap gently in the breeze, scented by the herbs growing in terra cotta pots on the windowsill.
And on that day, I shall gather my little children around me and say, “Oh ye that have honored the sacred dish towel, let us go down to the Chick-fil-A for dinner, as I would do anything to prevent the soiling of this most perfect of all days.”
Tags: children, laundry, motherhood, parenting


i also have that dream.
dish towels get used for bloody noses in my house too. gross? oh yes, and so much more. they’ve also been used to clean up oil spils in the garage. messes the dog has made. (and we’ve thrown away a lot of them, which is pretty much necessary after some of the messes they have encountered.)
we go through 5-6 dish towels a day. sigh. i share your longing.
cornnut32s last blog post..my new function as a mother:
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I didn’t even know that was possible! Does that dream include not going through a roll of papertowels the same day, too? Because for fast food I would totally cheat.
Charlottes last blog post..For the Laundry Impaired
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I have a dream that my main floor bathroom towel will remain there for a couple of days without toothpaste on it and such. I have a dream that my husband will stop leaving dish towels at the bottom of the sink to get smelly with bacteria. I have a dream that the silicone caulking around the basement bathroom sink will stop needing replacement ever couple of months. The house is BRAND NEW, nine months old, and has been replaced four times.
Natashas last blog post..Photo of me with a beer and cigarette in my mouth BUT IT WASN’T MY FAULT. Really.
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I feel so…so…understood. My 1yo thinks it is his right and duty to pull the towel off the stove door EVERY FIVE MINUTES. I use the standard 5-second rule for the towel, but if it’s been on the floor longer than that, to the laundry it goes! I must put up about four kitchen towels a day.
stacey @ tree, root, and twigs last blog post..Munchkin Love
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Keep dreaming! That’s why my blog is named what it is: Realistic Idealist. We can dream, but we can’t expect.
Of course, though, if you find a way to make this magical day happen, tell me how you accomplished the feat!
Kimberlys last blog post..Nathanism
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so true and hilarious. But for me, it usually all my fault that my dish towels always end up in the laundry at the end of the day. oh, it is usually multiple ones
Courtney @ Mommie Blogss last blog post..best friends…
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In a day filled with lazy students (who show up 30 minutes late to a 50 minute class) I laughed. Some day, at some blogging conference we will meet and I will be happy to present you with a nice clean stack of dish towels. Sacred towels, towels that are not meant for dirty noses, or jello spills, or milk on the floor. (we also have lots of spilled yogurt for some crazy reason).
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I hope I can make it until tomorrow with a towel period. While my babe’s been sick, I’ve used up almost every towel in the house!
Heathers last blog post..Friday Fill-ins
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It took me years to figure out what the difference was between a dish cloth and a dish towel. It frustrated my mom to no end–we used both for whatever, like convenient paper towels. Now I’m the only one of our roommates who gets around to washing the dish towels. By then they’re all crunchy and stinky. Mmm.
Michelle Glausers last blog post..My Life in Pictures
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Kahuna uses my dish towels to eat his popcorn off of. It totally skeeves me out. I’m always saying, hey don’t use that! That is my dish towel use a bowl, but after 30 years does he listen???
My mother always had two dish towels. One for hands the other for dishes.
The Accidental Housewifes last blog post..Downtown Deer
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My dream is similar, but it’s a shirt instead of a towel.
Memarie Lanes last blog post..SAHM I Am Not
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that sounds like a beautiful day. i wish for it as well.
the mama bird diariess last blog post..politics isn’t pretty but paul rudd is
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Oh how I have this same dream. If you ever wake up and it has actually happened, please tell me the secret.
suedonyms last blog post..sugared up and sent on their way
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OK, so a dish towel is what you dry dishes with right? (If so, they’re called tea towels down here … no idea why, thought it could be related to dinner being colloquially called “tea”). I’m now perturbed that I have incredibly disgusting kitchen standards … we normally have two tea towels per week. Occasionally more, rarely less. And a towelling hand towel hanging off the pantry door knob. I think I need to consider using more tea towels …
Kirstys last blog post..Birthday Girl
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So, I’m thinking I probably should go with the two-towel system as a few have suggested. One, sacred, pristine towel that I won’t allow anyone (including myself if I’m honest) to touch, and another towel that will be allowed to get as dirty as possible, only we’ll just keep re-hanging it. (This is Dick’s method already — the hanging of the already-used towels).
Tea towels — now that sounds fancy!
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I can so relate.
Veronica Mitchells last blog post..Treating Mothers As Grown-Ups
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