All There

Tonight I decided to get a jump-start on Monday’s laundry.  I had brought down the laundry from the monkeys’ rooms upstairs and added it to the laundry that was already in the master bathroom.  Owen was taking a bath and Jack was following me around – so he was there too. 

I began sorting laundry into four piles and thought I would tell the monkeys how I was sorting it.  I figured it wouldn’t hurt for them to hear, even if I don’t expect them to do laundry anytime soon.   I stated the ‘name’ of the pile each time I put something into it.

“Whites and towels pile;  pajamas, socks, and underwear pile; regular clothes – light color pile; regular clothes – dark colors pile.”

Owen and Jack’s eyes followed the laundry as it came out of a hamper and moved to a pile.  Soon, Owen was mouthing the names under his breath while I said them aloud – I can imagine his little brain lighting up with the exciting knowledge that there can be rules and order even in dirty clothes piles… 

Soon, I shortened the names of the piles since saying the whole thing was slowing me down and the monkeys were obviously ’getting’ what I was doing.

“Whites and towels; pajamas, socks and underwear; regular clothes we wash in cold water, so, Cold-Light and Cold-Dark.”

Soon it was just “Whites, warm, dark, light.”  Owen easily transitioned to the new names, but Jack’s eyebrows became furrowed.  His eyes no longer followed each item as it was put into one of the piles.  Instead, they stayed focused on the “warm” pile.    After a few minutes he tentatively reached over and squeezed a handful of clothes from that pile. He looked up at me, eyebrows still furrowed, shrugged his shoulders and left the room. 

I am pretty sure that Jack was checking the “warm” pile to see if they had indeed turned warm. Which I thought was pretty funny.  But after he walked away, I wondered at his silence.  Usually Jack is a question asker or he tells you just what he thinks whether you want to hear it or not.  (and he will deny any other possible explanation other than his own.)  Normally, he would “correct” my pile label – but now I wonder what is going on in that little 4-year-old brain.  Maybe he is just getting older and is beginning to realize that there are times when he doesn’t quite understand what is going on.  Maybe.  But he gave me such a look that I swear he wondered if I was “all there.”  I am not “all there” all of the time, but I thought that kids were a little older before they realized these things…

I am beginning to hope that Jack corrects some mistake I make tomorrow – just so I know that he doesn’t think I am too far gone.