Full Speed Ahead: My Journey with Kit

I shrug and tell Kit that I will stay in her parents’ room. I won’t try to do any chores. I’m totally hopeless at housework anyhow. Kit smiles and looks relieved. She says that’s for the best. But, I do want to carry the stack of plates in my arms to the kitchen. What Uncle Hendrick doesn’t know won’t hurt him.

The dogs and I follow Kit into the kitchen. I set the dishes on the counter and sit awkwardly and uselessly, watching as Kit washes the dishes. When she’s done, she says it’s time to do the laundry. We go to the basement where Kit stuffs dirty clothes into a gigantic machine that looks like The Monster That Ate Antarctica. I have never seen a washing machine so big and ungainly as this thing. I watch quietly as Kit puts shirts, socks, aprons, underwear, and pajamas into it. But when she’s about to stuff in a wool sweater, I gasp and tell her not to do that. It’s made of wool. If wool clothes go in the washer, they’ll be ruined.

I explain to Kit that clothes and fabrics on my hobby. I don’t mention that at home, lots of old, vintage clothes I find at secondhand stores are made of wool. I tell her that I’ve learned the hard way that wool stuff can’t be tossed in the washer. It shrinks. Kit says she’s been doing laundry for a while, but she’s still not very good at it.

I stand up to show her how to wash the sweater by hand in cold, soapy water. We go back to the kitchen to wash the sweater in the sink. Kit and I get really wet and soapy ourselves, and the floor gets so wet and soapy that we end up mopping it. But it’s fun and I can tell that Kit appreciates that I stopped her from wrecking the sweater.