Turning Diligent

I took a little character quiz recently and found that one of my definite lesser virtues is diligence. (Your undoubtedly fending off your shock about now.)

I'll case in point myself with the most normal of tasks: laundry. We have a fair amount of laundry. Besides there being 4 of us, the towheaded toddler insists on eating yogurt with his fist, the man of the house currently runs 3 times a week which necessitates laundry-doing in a major olfactory way, and yours truly has a knack for always forgetting an apron. To boot, in humid North Carolina your towels and washcloths basically have to be washed after one use, because they never dry out. (Maybe you always wash your towels after one use. This says something else about me on a hygienic level then.) So we have frequent laundry needs.

Here's the routine. I usually have 2 loads to do at a time.

Day 1: Gather laundry
Day 2: Start 1 load
            Change load 1 to dryer
            Start load 2
            Forget about laundry altogether
Day 3: Remember laundry
            Take dry Load 1 laundry up two flights of stairs
            Dry or rather rewash and dry Load 2.
            Take Load 2 upstairs.
            Fold load 1, Noah wakes up or some other inevitable.
            That night, if I'm doing good, I finish folding.
Day 4:  Put away (or finish folding) and put away clothes downstairs in boys room.
             Collect new laundry build-up.

My sister, Emily, on the other hand, loves washing and folding laundry. (She lived in Honduras and misses doing it on a washboard--!?) She folds every article of clothing like it's on display in a department store. Flat, crisp angles--it's almost stunning to watch this girl work.

My folded washclothes/hand towels 

   My sister's folded bath towels

I started taking a little more pride in my overdue folding today. (Clean clothes may or may not have been sitting in basket waiting to be folded for two days now.) I tried to fold more precisely, put clothes away in drawers more neatly. And what do you know, it did feel more satisfying. And motivating to keep it up.

This makes me realize that learning even simple skills comes in levels:
  - Just doing my own laundry. #dareIadmitIreallystarteddoingmyownlaundrywhenIwentawaytocollege
  - Learning how to treat, iron, care for different fabrics and materials.
  - Shoving them in more or less organized drawers and closet space.
  - Now doing it all for a family.
  - Doing it effieciently.
  - Doing it neatly.
  - Enjoying doing it well.

In turn, I wonder if becoming a bonafide "diligent person" who passes her character trait test with flying colors might just start from being diligent at little humdrum things that don't seem to matter at first.

I'll try it and let you know how it goes.