I want Kreacher

I was rereading part of the last Harry Potter book this weekend and I've come to a decision. I want a house elf. If you've read the books, you know that this is a controversial statement. House elves are slaves, bound to their masters or their master's family for eternity, or until they are given clothes (see the second Harry Potter movie for more information). But my family has a definite need.

We desperately need someone to help us with our clothing problem.

If you looked around my home right now, you would see a heaping basket of clean laundry waiting to be put away. You'd see hampers in Allie's room and in Julia's room. You'd see a hamper in the mudroom/laundry room/back hallway. None of these three is particularly full at the moment because I did laundry this weekend. And then you'd see the piles.

There's a pile of clothes at the end of the bed where Greg dropped them. I don't generally pick up these clothes, so when he does, that's when his clothes get washed. He has a lot of clothes so this isn't usually a problem. There's a pile of clothes in the middle of the living room from where the girls changed into their pajamas last night. I'd feel worse about the changing clothes in the living room thing if I didn't know that lots of people let their kids do that (including Dan and Kerry, hah!). I just want a laundry fairy or elf or someone to pick them up besides me. And it's always me (unless I yell at the girls).

The worst problem is the socks. Both Greg and the girls have a habit of taking off their socks wherever. And our cats like socks. I've seen Rabies many times with socks in his mouth. They end up all over the house--in every hallway, by the front door, in the middle of the kitchen. Until last night, there were two socks in the back corner, underneath the Christmas tree. I picked up two off the landing of the stairs yesterday. It's a little insane.

So until I get a house elf, I just want to put the warning out there to visitors--No, we're not begging for extra goodies by leaving extra "stockings" around. Yes, we do have a problem.