My most hated chore

I just know that I'm the talk of the entire community today.  As mothers from all over the neighborhood drove anywhere in the vicinity of the schools today (or happened to be looking out their windows as all the kids walked home) they all caught a glimpse of my kids in their wrinkled clothes.  I'm sure phone calls were made all over the place and better mothers than I met by the fence to judge and demean me and my shoddy homemaking skills.  I can hear it now-- "She doesn't go to work, isn't she supposed to be doing all those household chores?" or "Such a shame that those kids have a mother that doesn't love them enough to make sure they look decent before leaving the house." or even "I wonder if those kids even have lunch today, what with a mother that neglects them."
I'm not really sure why I hate it so bad, but I really don't like to iron.   Nope.  Step back.  Not strong enough.  I HATE to iron.  I hate it with a passion.  I have even been known to call the iron names and when I DO finally iron I do so with foul words whispered under my breath the entire time. I know I have discussed this at length in the past but for some reason it is the task that haunts me.  I even lose sleep over it sometimes...knowing that I have spent hard earned money on perfectly good clothes that no one can wear because they are sitting in a wrinkled heap in the laundry room.
Today my kids had finally had enough and I found out after school that Savannah "sneaked" a shirt from the ironing pile because she didn't have anything to wear.  Colby came up ready for school in winter clothes because he, too, didn't have any short sleeved shirts left.  
So how do you know you've waited too long to iron? I would know...because I've experienced ALL of these:

• As previously stated, people are "sneaking" wrinkled clothes out of the pile to wear.
• You have both long sleeved shirts and shorts in the same pile.
• It takes you in excess of three hours to iron and you have to take the ironing and put it away multiple times because you run out of room to hang the hangers on the ironing board.
• The iron is on so long that it shuts itself off, assuming of course, that no one could POSSIBLY mean to leave the iron on for an entire afternoon.
• Your husband states "Wow, I forgot I even owned that" when he sees the clothes you ironed hanging in the closet.
• When asked if you've seen an article of clothing and you say "I haven't seen that in MONTHS", ensure the person asking that it's NOT in the laundry because you would have seen it, then find it in the ironing pile.
• You finally iron things only to find out that the kids have outgrown their clothes (this is NOT an exaggeration--it actually happened to me, shamefully)

While other people make new year's resolutions to lose weight or stop smoking, every year I make one that I will iron promptly.  I mean, if I did it every week like I should I wouldn't have so much to do, right?  You'd think that argument would get me going but it doesn't.  Oh well... I guess there is really only one solution.  It's time to teach everyone to iron their own clothes.  Or change my shopping habits and only buy polyester.