Friday, November 14, 2008

Jackpot!

In our house growing up, anything (particularly money) that was found in a pocket of something being laundered or in the washing machine or dryer afterwards became the property of the person doing the laundry - generally my mom. She called it her "tip" for doing that job. I learned to thoroughly check the pockets of my clothing before putting items in the laundry. I'm not quite as good at checking my pockets as I used to be, perhaps because I'm the one who does most of the laundry now, but I still try to remember. It seems like whenever I don't check, a Kleenex is found shredded all over the clothes as they come out of the washer or dryer. Fun.


I'm learning now that I need to be more diligent in checking the pockets of the kids' clothes. My "tips" usually can't be measured in monetary gain, although I did find a penny today (which I put in Dallin's bank), but I sure find some interesting stuff.


Here's a sampling of some of the latest items to come out of the washer. Yes, they were all washed before I discovered them.


A rock (I wash a lot of rocks!), a Chinese checker, a penny, a pom-pom, some "balls" (from some toy of neighborhood kids - a pellet gun of some kind, perhaps?), a washer, and a marker (which thankfully only bled on the pocket of Audrey's pants where I found it).

I'm happy to report that I did find Dallin's pocketful of crayons before they were washed and dried.

Does this happen to anyone else or are you all better at laundry than I am? What kinds of treasures do you find?

7 comments:

Debby said...

Ahhh.....come on, if it was more than a quarter, I usually gave it back! At least I acknowledged it and we would "negotiate" terms of ownership, eh? Maybe my memory is getting bad and I just wished it was that way? :) I still find stuff in pockets....pencils, chapstick, earplugs, washers and screws, sometimes bullets! but seldom any money. I thought all my kids moved out!!

The six of us! said...

I usually end up with recipts, legos, and money. I never really check pockets either, then again the worst culprit in my house is my Hubby, he leaves pens in his pockets. You'd think that I wouldn't have to check his pockets!!!

George and Joanna said...

The joys of laundry, huh? My kids haven't really put many things in their pockets yet, but I do seem to have the tissue problem... I hate that! My hubby seems to have bandaids all the time... go figure. Such fun!

Sarah said...

Ha ha - my mom says the same thing about getting a "tip" for doing the laundry. Since we don't have kids I don't usually find too many interesting items - though I have washed (and sometimes dried) Cory's chapstick a million times.

The Hall's said...

Rebekah has just found her pockets....I'm very interested to see what comes of it. Jeff is terrible about the kleenex thing though. I wash some at least once a month even though I always check pants pockets....I just forget to check his dress shirt pockets! Grrr.

K Western said...

I don't have a good habit of checking pockets, so I'm always finding treasures in the laundry: rocks, erasers, pennies, chap stick, crayons, paper, receipts, and earplugs. And yes, I have had the pens and crayons ruin a couple of clothes. Drives me crazy, but I guess I need to get better at checking pockets.

*Shelli* said...

Those are funny! I am so bad at checking pockets. I do now after finding the girls black eye liner on all the clothes! I have found money, chapstick, gum, toys, etc. Yesterday I pulled out a glass soap pump that I must have snatched while scooping up towels!