Soaked

When I was in grade school I spent a lot of time, especially in the summers, hanging out with my sister and her friends. She's four years older, and I couldn't think of anything cooler than whatever she and her girlfriends were doing.

One of her friends belonged to a country club, and a few times we were lucky enough to go there with her to swim in a huge pool. After swimming we'd go to the bathrooms, which were the biggest and nicest public potties I'd ever seen. I think there was a hot tub in there, saunas and a huge vanity with baskets full of toiletries, including tampons. I watched with amazement as my sister and her friend plugged the sink and dropped in a tampon. I couldn't believe how the cotton would swell.

That's not a thought I recall often, but today, in amazement, it's all I could think of. I was moving a load of Jasper's laundry from the washer to the dryer and was a little scared when I grabbed for something that was squishy. I pulled my hand out of the washer and discovered a diaper -- a disposable diaper -- in my hand along with a washcloth and a bib. It weighed about 10 pounds and was the size of a small cat. Like the tampon, I imagined a moment of the water filling the washer bin and POOF the diaper multiplied like those those tiny foam capsules that turn into dinosaur toys in the bath tub. Not surprisingly, the diaper was clean. But, I thought, what had been in it?

I had no idea how it got in the laundry. I suppose I could have swept it up with a pile of clothes after bath time. Or had I thrown it into the pile on my way downstairs with the laundry basket with the intention of taking it outside because it was so disgusting? Or could it have been a clean diaper that Jasper was playing with and somehow managed to get it into his laundry basket? This last option is possible but not so probable. Still, I like to think that there's a small chance the diaper was clean to begin with.

Previously I'd found whole beans, chunks of chicken and baby wipes in the laundry. This, however, caught me by surprise. I'm pretty sure, though, I'm not the first mom to make this mistake.

Still, I was grossed out, so I took the diaper straight to the trash. Then, I pulled the wet clothes that had already made it into the dryer back to the washer and started the load again.

Heloise, I think, would advise me not to dry my salad greens in the spin cycle anymore. Oops.

Rookie Mom Mistake: Assuming it's only dirty clothes in that pile of laundry.