The Fox and the Laundry - A Modern Day Fable

Thank you Two Writing Teachers for creating this space for me to share my corner of the world.

Once there was a fox who lived in the meadow with Mrs. Fox and their children Kit and Kat.  Mr. Fox left his den every day to work deep in the woods.  Mrs. Fox was left to care for the children, fix the meals, and clean the den.

Photo by Flickr

One day Mr. Fox came home and told his family, "I think I am getting too old to work, so I am going to stay home with all of you."

The family cheered, and they had wonderful days of playing and romping in the meadow.

One day Mr. Fox felt like he needed to start helping around the den, so he began helping with the household chores, especially the laundry.

But Mr. Fox didn't do the laundry the same way as Mrs. Fox.  He washed everything together, and their clothing faded.  He mixed Kit's shirts with Kat's shirts, and they could never find the right ones.  He never matched the socks correctly, and he never folded the clothes the way Mrs. Fox did.

"Momma, will you please make Papa quit doing the laundry?  He can't do it right." Kit and Kat whined.

Momma said, "Papa just wants to feel like he is helping out."  Mrs. Fox was feeling the same frustration, but she was tired of arguing with Mr. Fox.  She knew he wanted to feel useful, but she needed to find a way to solve this problem.

One day Mrs. Fox did a load of laundry a day early.  She usually kept it as a weekend chore.  The whites and the darks were washed separately.  Kit and Kat's shirts did not get mixed up.  All the clothes were folded the way everyone liked, and all the socks were matched.  Everyone was happy.

Mrs. Fox realized that if she kept up the laundry during the week and didn't wait for the weekend, then Mr. Fox wouldn't have any laundry to do.  And all would be dandy in the den.

Moral of the story:  If you want to outfox a fox, 

stay one step ahead of him.