My Dreams of Being Amish Have Died

It's funny how accustomed you become to the modern conveniences of life, that when they are "broken" or out of order it throws your whole life into a quandary. Today, a nice man came to fix my dryer. I was oh so grateful to him, I told him I'd be throwing a Laundry Party tonight.

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He did not seem impressed.

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It's funny how much I missed this little appliance that I really don't like. Twice this week, I've had to go the laundry mat just to keep up with the piles. Twice this week, we had wet Bathroom towels laying in heaps on the bathroom that I was sure were going to be moldy by midnight. Two of my children decided to get rather wet helping me put flags in the lawn where the sprinklers were and, of course, with no dryer the clothes stayed wet for hours.

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I did let the children change. Not because I wanted too, but I was afraid of the parenting police yelling at me that they would catch pneumonia.

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It's funny that in the midst of all this upheaval of my "perfect laundry system" (yeah right Jill), I'm reading a book by Beverly Lewis "The Missing" about an Amish Family. I love these type of books and they transport me (in horse and buggy of course) to a different place and time. I can see myself in the big kitchen, making homemade bread, big pots of stew, and stoking the fire to keep the main floor warm for the children.

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When we were first married, we had family living in Harrisburg PA and P and I went on a day trip to Amish Country. I bought books about Amish Life, sampled their home cooking, and left with big dreams that we were going to shed our suburban lifestyle and become Amish. My husband thought I was nuts. Either that or cute.

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Fifteen years later, I guess you can say my dreams of living a "simple life" have died. I can't live 4 days without an Electric Dryer. Really. By this morning, I was chomping at the bit for the repairman to come and fix it already. When he told me I needed a new part and he didn't have it on his truck, he must have seen the look of fear on my face as he very calmly told me not to worry, they had it at the shop and he'd be back in an hour. He even left the dryer in parts to prove his commitment to return.

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My Amish dreams have died, but at least I have clean clothes!!