My great-grandmother came to the US when she was 27 years old. We call her Momom. She earned her moniker from my mother. When my mom was tiny, she and her mother (my grandma) lived with her mother. Mom’s mom. Momom. It stuck and it’s what my mother’s entire family of cousins call Gunda Aananson to this day.
Momom is from a time when, well, I guess women had more time to do the things around the house that we now have butler and maid services do for us because we are forever too busy between work and commute and working out and trying to have a Social life and run-on sentences. She is also from a time when women would gather around these activities and do them together as companionship and in community. You know, that sort of communal, familial and relationship thing women are so gifted in. Domesticating.
I tell you all of this because I am about to teach you a trick that was passed down from my Norwegian great-grandmother to her daughters and my mother. Don’tcha just love generationally passed down things? I mean, don’t you think it gives a richness and depth to why we do some of the things we do? And then when you get asked why you do it that way, you shrug, say “I dunno” and keep. doing. it.
Ready?
Momom’s bedsheet trick:
Two people fold the sheet in half. Gather the sheet from the ends, inching towards the center with their hands. When both people have reached the center (best if you do this simultaneously), you then brace your feet like a boxer, firmly on the ground because you’re going to be using quite a bit of tension as you pull it back to the edges. Pulling and pushing it back and forth, you snap it once you’re at the full breadth.
This method works best if done right out of the dryer for less wrinkled sheets. And it’s a fun little thing to do with someone else. It doesn’t give quite the same effect as ironing, so if you’re fine with some wrinkles, then perfect!
Once you’ve done that, each person holds two corners and folds in half. Shift the sheet, step towards one another, folding sheet in half again. Repeat until it’s in a nice little square.
Many hands make for little work. And quicker work, too!
Try this with a niece or nephew, mother, sister or a close enough friend. You can even get your Main Squeeze in on it! Just because we’re independent doesn’t mean we can’t include others in the small areas of life.
Happy Homemaking, friends!
