There are certain things that happen at 3:00 in the morning that seem perfectly reasonable at the time.

Meeting the Laundry Fairy is apparently one of them.

With puppies in the nursery and mommas needing attention, middle-of-the-night trips to the nursery areas are simply part of life here at the CaveInn. I get up, check babies, check Momma, make sure everyone is warm, comfortable, fed and content, and then quietly make my way back upstairs hoping to catch another precious hour or two of sleep.

It’s a routine I know very well.

On one particular 3 AM trip, everyone was doing just fine. Puppies were tucked in, Mommas were settled, and all was right with the CaveInn world.

And then I saw it.

The laundry.

A rather impressive pile sitting at the bottom of the stairs.

Now, laundry around here is not exactly an occasional occurrence. Between puppy blankets, towels, bedding, whelping supplies and everything else involved in raising a litter—or two—our dog washer and dryer could probably qualify as full-time employees.

But at 3 AM, I had absolutely no intention of clocking them in.

So I stepped over the pile and headed back upstairs.

As I crawled into bed, Joel woke up just enough to ask the question he always asks:

“How is everyone?”

“They’re all good,” I told him.

And then, apparently operating on very little sleep and just enough delirium to entertain myself, I added:

“I met the Laundry Fairy downstairs. She was just getting ready to take care of the pile on the floor.”

There was a pause.

I’m fairly certain Joel knew immediately that this particular fairy bore a striking resemblance to me.

Unfortunately, when morning arrived, I discovered that the Laundry Fairy had failed to complete her assigned duties.

The pile was still there.

No sparkling wand.

No magical fairy dust.

No freshly folded puppy blankets.

Not even one matched pair of socks.

Honestly, her performance review is not looking good.

I suspect the problem is that the CaveInn Laundry Fairy is terribly overworked. She apparently moonlights as a puppy midwife, nursery attendant, bottle washer, photographer, housekeeper, puppy socialization coordinator and Momma Lab concierge.

And unlike the fairy in my imagination, her uniform is considerably less glamorous. Think old shorts and t-shirts, slippers, messy hair and possibly a little goat’s milk somewhere on her shirt.

Still, I like my imaginary version better.

She has wings.

She carries a bottle of magical laundry potion.

And with one wave of her wand…

“STAIN BE GONE!”

The puppy blankets are clean, the towels are folded, the washer is empty and every sock has miraculously found its soulmate.

Now that is a fairy I would happily keep on staff.

Until she actually shows up, however, I suppose I’ll continue doing what puppy raisers everywhere do: wash another load, fold another mountain of blankets and wonder how such tiny puppies can possibly create so much laundry.

And the next time I stumble across a pile at the bottom of the stairs at 3 AM?

I’m leaving it for the Laundry Fairy.

Eventually, she has to show up.

Footnote: Before anyone thinks Joel is sleeping peacefully through all of this—he is a very involved partner in our puppy-raising adventures and does more than his fair share of late-night duty! He just hasn’t figured out how to make the Laundry Fairy appear either. 😉

Life at CaveInn: where puppies are raised with loads of love…and there are always loads of laundry.