Laundry, Silverware, and Fighting Entropy

As a teen I spent a lot of time at a friend’s house and noted they’d lost the battle with laundry. Full white flag surrender.

Clothes got cleaned, that was never a problem. But the next step was skipped, and unfolded items found their resting places in strategically located piles throughout the home—or sometimes a mega pile in a single location.

At the time I thought this a problem and wondered why my friends didn’t consider it a priority.

Then one day I was helping them with the dishes. I pulled silverware from the dishwasher and haphazardly distributed the forks and spoons.

My friend’s mom stopped me and asked if I could place each item in its intended location.

I found that odd—especially considering my judgement of the clothes piles—until she explained.

Though she’d lost the battle of unfolded laundry, she was not willing to give up on silverware. It was one of the areas she insisted on keeping organized, an area she could focus on and keep under control.

That seemed odd.

But now, as a parent, I get it.

She chose which areas of entropy were worth fighting.

She knew it was impossible to do everything at all times, but silverware was a small hill where she could make her stand.

Entropy sucks.

The universe laughs at our attempts to keep everything organized.

Most people want a tidy home. But the second law of thermodynamics states that items within your house must move from where we want them to random locations.

Growing up laundry was an area mom kept under control. Though my brothers and I were less than perfect in household chores, we helped out and made sure our clothes got to the right closets and drawers.

Actually, let’s be honest, our mom just enforced it and we kids fell in line.

Now, as an adult, my wife and I have a similar style of organization and cleanliness—thankfully.

It’s handy when you and your life partner are roughly equal in this area. We both do laundry, dishes, and generally keep things straightened.

But we choose battles differently.

For me it’s dishes.

They must be cleaned, every day. For her it’s kid’s toys and items in the wrong location, she has to move them and put them back in place.

As for dusting, that’s an evil chore that was invented to teach children exactly zero lessons. We don’t dust.

In life some battles are worth picking. You can decide where to enforce organization and fight entropy. Others aren’t worth the hassle. If you spend all day enforcing everything you’ll end up exhausted and unable to focus. Find your dust in life and ignore it.

As for me and silverware?

I still dump everything unceremoniously into the drawer. My wife gave up on me long ago in this area.

Still, the dishes get washed every night because that’s where I choose to battle entropy. It’s a small victory, but it’s a way to stay sane in a chaotic universe.