Burn all the Ironing Boards!
I’ve never understood ironing.
I remember growing up and watching mum or dad procrastinate about doing the ironing, knowing they will be stood for an hour or so, flattening material with a very hot thing, on a temporary table, folded or hung on a hanger ready to be stored to go through the – Wear, Wash, Dry, Iron, Put away cycle again.
I remember being quite young and mum letting me do the ironing! I felt like a REAL LIFE GROWN UP – flattening material with a very hot thing, on a temporary table, folding and hanging on a hanger ready to be stored to go through the Wear, Wash, Dry, Iron, Put away cycle again. It was what the adults did and now I was allowed to do it too. I was excited to iron the clothes.
As the years went on, I started to see flaws in this timely process. There was a distinct correlation between my parents being temporarily unhappy and when the ironing was being done. In fact, the unhappiness seemed to last the exact time the ironing was taking place. Surely ironing couldn’t be the reason this was happening?? It’s such an adult, fun thing to do. Surely my parents love ironing as much as I did the one time I was allowed to do it.
Through my teenage years I had to iron my own clothes which is just a part of growing up. But the more I did this, I saw the truth behind this deceiving task. It wasn’t a fun adult task. It was monotonous and so boring. Everything was such hassle – getting the ironing board out, getting the iron out, setting it all up, making sure it did the steamy thing and then doing the ironing and reversing the process. Clothes that needed ironing would stay in the ironing basket. I’d rather continue to put it through the wash-dry-wash-dry-wash-dry cycle for the rest of eternity than admit that it needs to be ironed.
In 2012 I left to go travelling. Naturally you pack clothes which are backpack friendly and don’t require ironing. I learnt in my 2.5 years away that GHD straighteners are pretty much the only tool you need for all your life straightening requirements – hair, clothes. If you’re feeling really adventurous – have a go on your bedding or your morals. They are just there when you need a quick refresh – 2 seconds plugged in and heated up, a quick woosh over the clothing and you’re done. A commitment free process.
Since then I have lived an iron free life. Granted – I am a Personal Trainer – I wear a lot of lycra. But I do own normal clothes and I still find ways to make sure they don’t need ironing. I take extra care through the washing, drying and hanging phase and I’ve managed to bypass the ironing phase!
Fuck the iron. I don’t need that kind of fun sponge in my life!!
So this blog isn’t about ironing. I know life has been boring just recently, But jeez, give me some credit!
But the concept of ironing is so true as part of life. Why do we spend so much time in our lives doing things that we don’t enjoy and HATE thinking about. At some point along the way we have accepted all these “grown up” things that we are supposed to do as grown-ups and we just do them. If you hate ironing – figure out another way of getting through that process. If you hate cleaning – don’t do it in one big go, do 10/20 mins every day and you wont have to spend a day cleaning. Hate cooking? Spend 90 mins meal prepping and don’t worry about it again for the rest of the week. Who wrote the rules on all these things we had to do in this particular way?
I know people that iron their bedding. (Don’t even get me started!) But if you hate ironing, how many hours have you spent ironing bedsheets? Unneccessarily. Why?
Life is full of things we cannot change, I will admit there are certain things we cannot change that we don’t enjoy and we just have to get on with them. But there are so many things we can change. So do it.
Ø What is stressing you out?
Ø Can you change it?
Ø No? Learn to accept it
Ø Yes? So change it and change it now.
We are in control of our own lives, we should make sure we are doing everything we can to enjoy the majority of it.
Kellie x
Coach Kellie 