Eim HaBonim Smeicha (or) Thank You Hashem

so yom tov is over and I have 5-8 hours of laundry to do. On Sundays (the day I don’t work) I start laundry as soon as I get up and try to finish before the kids get home. This morning, as soon as I opened my eyes, I knew I needed to get down to the basement and hope to see the light of day. I rolled over with a groan. Then I remembered all the things I have learned about HaKoras HaTov, about perspective, about motherhood, and I got up. I told myself, is it really that bad? No, really it isn’t. I have a lot of laundry because I am fortunate. I have a Sunday morning to do it because I am fortunate (had Yom Tov been a weekday I would have gotten up to go to work, not to laundry). Although our washing machine broke last month, I still have another one. I am fortunate. Sure I would rather be sitting on a couch reading a book, but would that have been an option if I wasn’t busy with laundry? (no, because I don’t have a dishwasher either)

I think that we (certainly I) sometimes want the apple without the core, the trip without the travel, the house without the utility bills. I wanted kids, I wanted a million kids. I spent my childhood dreaming of growing up to be a mom. Am I really going to complain about laundry?

Thank you Hashem for the things we get, even if we have to work for them.