Sometimes, as a parent, I wish I had more things to do. I’m sure other parents will agree with me here, sometimes there just don’t seem to be enough things on my to-do list. I mean, there’s work, of course, and the whole child-rearing side of it. And the nursery run, and the laundry, and the everyday tasks like making dinner or reading bedtime stories. Then there’s the other stuff, the fun stuff, the games and the adventures with my daughter. The afternoons spent snuggled up together being silly, or the messy afternoons of arts and crafts.
And then there’s this blog, and everything that goes along with that. And also I have family and friends to see and speak to. Phone calls to make, messages to reply to, birthday celebrations to attend. And there’s the Christmas concerts, the theatre shows, the trips to museums. The odd jobs around the house, the decorating, feeding the cat. And there’s the food shopping, the endless trips to buy new shoes for my daughter’s growing feet, gymnastic classes to get to. Then there’s Christmas shopping, birthday presents to buy, teeth to clean. Baths to run, cupcakes to bake and books to read.
I just feel like I don’t really have enough to do. There’s another problem too, a little hole in my happiness, something missing from my life. It’s my utility room, you see. I just don’t get to spend enough time in there. It’s quite an exciting room. There’s a litter tray in there, a cupboard full of tools and a huge pile of dirty laundry waiting to be done. And a washing machine, of course. And, the thing that I wish I spent more time with, the tumble dryer.
Luckily, my overwhelming amount of free time and secret desire to spend more time with my dryer have collided in the best way possible this week. It turns out I’ll be able to spend a lot more time in there, just watching my tumble dryer. Great, isn’t it? Apparently, my tumble dryer is one of the ‘significant number’ of tumble dryers in the recall announced earlier this week. There’s a form to fill in to find out if yours is affected, and when you do that, the website gives you the great news that you will be contacted in five weeks. In the meantime, it advises, that you shouldn’t use your tumble dryer unless you’re watching it. In case it sets on fire.
I’m thrilled, of course. Finally I have found something to fill the empty chasm of time I call ‘me time’. Finally I have found a way to develop a stronger relationship with the household appliance that may or may not be secretly planning an arson attack on my home. And what’s extra special about this, is that it’s happened during winter. As the rain beats down on the windows, I needn’t make excuses and simply dry my washing on the line. Oh no, I’ll be inside, watching my tumble dryer. That’s probably at least four hours of intense quality bonding time with my tumble dryer. So, that’s great.