My revolt against ironing

Yep, it's a slow news day today.
I don't iron. Ever. Does this make me a bad mother? I've never needed to iron. I don't have a job that requires me to wear pressed clothes (although I hope to in the near future). My children don't go to school yet, and my husband is capable of ironing his own shirts. I figure, if I get the washing in and folded straight away, the creases fall out on their own. And it works.

I've had people try to teach me to iron. In a moment of pure, unadulterated ambition I asked my hubby to teach me, which he did. But, I just don't need to iron. It's not as though I've never ironed. I can do it if I have to, like, if I have a job interview to go to. But it takes a bloody long time. One morning, pre-children, when my hubby was living in the city with a house full of mates, I tried to help him out when he was running late for work, by ironing his shirt while he was in the shower. Being the only ironing board and iron in the house, a small line soon formed behind me, until one of his mates insisted he finish the job for me, because I was just too slow. True story.

I've had a woman who is not my mother try to teach me, and try to convince me that I should be ironing my children's clothes. But when I was busy studying, working part-time, and being a mother I thought that my spare time could be put to much better use playing with my children. I mean, at the end of the day, they're not going to give a shit whether I've ironed their clothes or not. They're going to be rapt we had a fun day together and that I was able to play with them.

Yes, I admit, sometimes, if I have felt a bit lazy and the clean washing has been in a pile in the back room for a few days, I do send my son to childcare in a creased shirt. But why does this matter? Sometimes I send him to childcare with a dirty face. Sometimes I send him to childcare with messy hair. I ask again: why does this matter? I'm not a bad mum. We play, and do fun things, I look after him when he's sick. Who cares about a few creases in his clothes, and smudges on his face?

I know that eventually, when my children start school, I will then need to succumb to ironing their clothes. But that's not for at least another two years yet, and in the meantime, I'd rather spend that half a day playing with them, than ironing. I'm sure my children will thank me for it later.