To Iron, or Not to Iron

Today I think I will obsess about ironing. The fact is, right now I would rather write about it than do it, although I have wanted to wear my pink blouse everyday for the last 2 weeks, but it still needs to be pressed. Truth be told, I actually enjoy ironing, as I set up the board in front of the TV and iron my way through several episodes of a sitcom or a whole chick flick that none of my guys will watch with me. Even as a kid, when the task of pressing tableclothes and pillowcases fell to me, I found the chore almost fun, except for that one time when I burned my elbow during an exceptionally exciting episode of Wild, Wild West.

No, ironing is really one of the brighter spots in the household day, it's just that the German housewives have their own version of obsessing about it. My friends literally measure their ironing in baskets, meaning the load of clothes is washed, hung out to dry and then ironed. Or they put the laundry in the dryer and then give everything a quick press as soon as it comes out. And I do mean everything. When my boys were little, friends came to visit and one of their children soiled his pants. Since our kids were roughly the same size, we just lent them the necessary items, knowing we would get the clothes back soon. Imagine my surprise at our next meeting when I was handed those tiny jeans and underpants not only washed, but also ironed!!! Until then I had thought it was just a rumor that Germans ironed excessively, but now my eyes were opened. I came to find out that my friends really did iron their husbands' boxer shorts and all manner of bedding, in addition to all the articles of clothing I found normal. Most of them did not go as far as their own mothers though -- that generation still presses bath towels.

For years I tried to keep up and ironed not only shirts and blouses but also dish-drying towels, pillowcases, napkins and placemats. Now I'm back to just the upper garments, and pants and skirts only if truly necessary. Of course that is a very subjective distinction, but I do think my sister Mary has the right idea with her 15-minute rule: if after 15 minutes of wearing, you can't tell that an article of clothing was ironed, then you should never press it again.

I'd love to go on about this topic, but I promised Tim I would press his new shirts before he comes by this evening. My son, whose wardrobe until now has consisted entirely of jeans, Ts and sweatshirts (which no one ever ironed) starts a new student job today. His German side came shining through when we bought the shirts on the weekend and he announced that he plans to get an ironing board of his own in the near future. Hope he has a lot of fun DVDs to watch.