On Monday, she woke, poured two cups of coffee and set the table. She made breakfast and served everyone when they came in. They all kissed her cheek as they ran out the door. She washed, rinsed, dried and put away the dishes. She opened all the curtains and windows. She gathered discarded clothing from the floor in each of the bedrooms into her laundry basket and went down to the laundry room. While she washed the first load, she sat and wrote her grocery list. She moved the clothes into the dryer and began a second load of wash. She dusted the living room and family room before it was time to take the clothes out of the dryer and begin the final load. She folded and put away the laundry.

She went into the kitchen and made a sandwich and had lemonade. She washed, rinsed, dried and put away the plate and cup. She folded and put away the next load and moved the other clothes into the dryer. She vacuumed the living room and family room. She took out the iron and ironing board. She ironed and folded and put away the last load of laundry. She went to the grocery store and bought off her list. She came home and put away the groceries. She turned on the oven and baked a dozen cookies for after-school snacks. She chopped vegetables for a salad and prepared a chicken for dinner. She poured milk and served cookies when the children came home.

She set the table and served dinner. They all thanked her as they ran to watch television. She washed, rinsed, dried and put away the dishes. She rinsed out the coffeepot and set it for the morning. She closed all the curtains and windows. She turned off all the lights. She locked all the doors. She checked on the children in their rooms. She took a shower. She turned off the television and woke her husband from the couch. They went to bed.

On Tuesday, she woke, poured two cups of coffee and set the table. She made breakfast and served everyone when they came in. They all kissed her cheek as they ran out the door. She washed, rinsed, dried and put away the dishes. She opened all the curtains and windows. She straightened and vacuumed the three bedrooms. She scrubbed and cleaned the toilets and the bathtubs in the two bathrooms. She swept and mopped the bathroom floors. She washed the mirrors and polished the chrome.

She went into the kitchen and heated up leftover chicken and vegetables and had a cup of coffee. She washed, rinsed, dried and put away the plate and cup. She wiped down and scrubbed the counters, the stove and the kitchen table. She swept and mopped the kitchen floor. She made some rice cereal bars for an after-school snack. She put a roast and potatoes in the oven for dinner. She lay Cub Scout and Junior Scout uniforms on the beds. She poured lemonade and served krispy treats when the children came home. She drove the children to their meetings and picked up the dry cleaning on her way home.

She set the table and waited for her husband to bring the children home. She served dinner. They all thanked her as they ran to watch television. She packaged the leftovers. She washed, rinsed, dried and put away the dishes. She rinsed out the coffeepot and set it for the morning. She closed all the curtains and windows. She turned off all the lights. She locked all the doors. She checked on the children in their rooms. She took a shower. She turned off the television and woke her husband from the couch. They went to bed.

On Wednesday, she woke, poured two cups of coffee and set the table. She made breakfast and served everyone when they came in. They all kissed her cheek as they ran out the door. She washed, rinsed, dried and put away the dishes. She opened all the curtains and windows. She stripped down the beds and removed all towels from the bathrooms into her laundry basket and went down to the laundry room. While she washed the first load, she washed the windows in the living room. She moved the towels into the dryer and began a second load of wash. She washed the windows in the family room and the master bedroom. She moved the sheets into the dryer and began the final load. She washed the windows in the kitchen and bathrooms. She folded and put away the laundry.

She went into the kitchen and made a sandwich and had lemonade. She washed, rinsed, dried and put away the plate and cup. She folded and put away the next load and moved the blankets into the dryer. She baked a pan of brownies and a frozen apple pie. She made the beds with new linens and put out fresh towels. She made a rice and bean casserole with the leftover chicken for dinner. She poured milk and served brownies when the children came home.

She set the table and served dinner. They all thanked her as they ran to watch television. She gave her husband the apple pie to take with him to his poker game. She washed, rinsed, dried and put away the dishes. She rinsed out the coffeepot and set it for the morning. She closed all the curtains and windows. She turned off all the lights. She locked all the doors. She checked on the children in their rooms. She turned off the television and went to bed.

On Thursday, she woke, poured two cups of coffee and set the table. She made breakfast and served everyone when they came in. They all kissed her cheek as they ran out the door. She washed, rinsed, dried and put away the dishes. She opened all the curtains and windows. She gathered discarded clothing from the floor in each of the bedrooms into her laundry basket and went down to the laundry room. She thought she heard a voice. No one was home. While she washed the first load, she watered the houseplants. She moved the clothes into the dryer and began a second load of wash. She dusted the living room and family room before it was time to take the clothes out of the dryer and begin the final load. Again, she thought she heard a voice. She couldn’t tell what it was saying. She shook her head and she folded and put away the laundry.

She went into the kitchen and had a slice of apple pie and a cup of coffee. She washed, rinsed, dried and put away the plate and cup. She folded and put away the next load and moved the other clothes into the dryer. She vacuumed the living room and family room. She took out the iron and ironing board. She ironed and folded and put away the last load of laundry. She went outside and pulled weeds from her flowerbeds. She swept the walkway to the front door and the driveway. She swept the sidewalk in front of the house. She turned on the sprinklers. She turned on the oven and baked a dozen cookies for an after-school snack. She chopped up the leftover roast and vegetables into a potpie for dinner. She poured milk and served cookies when the children came home. She turned off the sprinklers.

She set the table and served dinner. They all thanked her as they ran to watch television. She washed, rinsed, dried and put away the dishes. She heard the voice again. She went to the family room. They were all watching the television. They didn't even look at her when she walked in. She stood there a minute. She shook her head and went back to the kitchen. She rinsed out the coffeepot and set it for the morning. She closed all the curtains and windows. She turned off all the lights. She locked all the doors. She checked on the children in their rooms. She took a shower and went to bed.

On Friday, she woke, poured two cups of coffee and set the table. She made breakfast and served everyone when they came in. Again she heard the voice. No one else heard anything. They all kissed her cheek as they ran out the door. She washed, rinsed, dried and put away the dishes. She opened all the curtains and windows. She scrubbed out the oven and removed everything from the refrigerator. She washed the inside and replaced last month's box of baking soda. She threw out any old leftovers. She washed, rinsed, dried and put away the containers. She defrosted the freezer.

She had a piece of potpie and a cup of coffee. She washed, rinsed, dried and put away the plate and cup. Again she heard the voice. She shook her head. She packaged the brownies and rice cereal treats in baggies. She packed soccer and cheer uniforms into over-night bags along with pajamas and change of clothes for each of the children. She poured milk and served apple pie when the children came home. She drove them to their friend's homes.

She picked up burgers and fries for dinner. She rinsed out the coffeepot and set it for the morning. She closed all the curtains and windows. She turned off all the lights. She locked all the doors. She went to bed.

On Saturday, she woke, poured two cups of coffee and set the table. She made breakfast and served her husband when he came in. Again she heard the voice. He heard nothing. She shook her head. He kissed her cheek as he went out the door to golf. She washed, rinsed, dried and put away the dishes. She opened all the curtains and windows. She heard the voice clearly now. "Wash us, rinse us, dry us, put us away," the dishes said. She shook her head. She went around the house to see who was talking. "Wash us, dry us, fold us, put us away," she heard the clothes on the floor in the bedrooms say. She shook her head, harder. The floors in each room said "sweep us, mop us" or "vacuum us" as she ran through the house. In the bathrooms, the sink and bathtub and toilets called to her to "scrub us!" She ran back to the kitchen.

"Wash us, rinse us, dry us, put us away!" "Wash us, dry us, iron us, fold us, put us away!" "Sweep us, mop us!" "Vacuum us!" "Dust us!" "Scrub us!" "Clean us!" "WASH US!" "Clean us!"

She screamed.

Her husband brought the children home. They found her throwing dishes against the kitchen wall, screaming " Wash us, rinse us, dry us, put us away!"

MamaKia writes, edits, struggles with teen angst, grooms the future 1st woman POTUS*, keeps her fingers busy with Riled Rags (her line of handmade children's accessories), feeds professional chefs, directs Back on Track Care Packs (a non-profit set up to help children displaced by Katrina), spends hour after hour logged onto HipMama, and generally gets very little sleep, not necessarily in that order, somewhere very near the Pacific Ocean. She can be contacted at ransomnoteproductions [at] yahoo.com.

*president of the US