If I really thought that their were no bigger issues in life to be worried/complaining about I would go on for a few days about my laundry situation... Instead I'll go on for a few minutes in hopes that I can figure this one out before I have real problems to deal with!!
I'm a Tide girl, and other than that it's just what I have always used, I have no real reason for spending the extra money on tide. If any one has any strong attachment to another brand and thinks that it beats my Tide... I'd love to hear about it.
This is my mound of laundry yesterday (monday) morning. I didn't do any laundry over the weekend and the last time I did more than a single load out of desperation was last thursday. I gathered the clothes from all four corners of my household and this pile and the picture below are a pretty accurate representation of four days worth of clothes at the Davidson household.
If it is beginning to sound like I am complaining I am.... NOT!
I only do laundry for 7 as apposed to 9 people now. I no longer have to wash endless loads of spit up upon baby blankets and thank goodness my days of hauling a bucket full of cloth diapers up two flights of stairs (with a baby and a toddler in tow) to wash them in shared apartment/coin washers are a
very distant albeit horrific memory.
What you see here (including the sink full of white socks above) is the equivelent of 11 loads of laundry! I started this task a bit late yesterday as I had places to be and things to do outside my home until about 2:00pm. I knew when I started that it would be a long night...
When Mark got up this morning he said " Hi, how are you? Did you just feel like staying up all night to do laundry?"
Of course not, I hate doing laundry, but the thing is if I don't have atleast 8+ hours of uninterupted time to DO the laundry, it never seems to get done!
I had to go to kindergarten with Sam this morning so here it is 2:oopm the next day and I just heard the timer on the dryer letting me know that my last batch (white socks) of laundry is finished... I guess it's time to go gather it up and start again!!!
My Mom was always very efficient at doing laundry on set days and not letting it pile up and get out of control... What's my problem? Anyone have any suggestions???
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13 comments:
know what's funny? my nic name is laundry :) hehe.
Hey Karen! This has been on my mind lately too. I am so bad about letting the laundry pile up until I literally have nothing clean to wear and then I end up doing {or trying to do} 6 loads of laundry all at once. Just last week I decided to do a daily batch of laundry, because unlike you I am NOT past the days of daily puking/pooping babies that puke and poop on EVERYTHING so every day I have SOMETHING that needs to be washed. But, you have enough people in your family that it seems like you could fill a batch a day or so? Anyways. My goal is to do a batch a day- wash, dry, fold, put away. If I am caught up one day and have nothing to wash, or not enough for a full load, then good for me- I have an extra hour to my day. But I'm doing really well with it and it may be worth a try!
Sorry. This is not something I can help you with. I can't stand having a specific day for Laundry. It ruins that day. Up until lately, I have needed reminders that people had no clothes. If it is any help, whenever I feel like complaining, I automatically think of those of you who have 3 times my laundry, and they HAPPILY do it. All this time you were deceiving me:-) And I think of having to do it by hand and I kiss my machine - not literally.
I hope you went and bought some disposable diapers after that long trip to the laundry.
With five kids (six years apart) at home at one time I know exactly how you feel when it comes to laundry.
This is a suggestion:
1. With so many jeans/pants and shirts the same size it was hard to sort out the laundry back to the right person so . . . the clothes would mysteriously go missing.
2. Kids were searching for certain clothes so . . . they voluntary started doing their own laundry. Great training for their missions. They cannot blame Mom for not having any clean clothes to wear and for not being able to find something.
3. Two kids(older +younger) can work together and combine their loads to make "full" loads. The kids usually have enough clothes to do full loads. With the new front load washers it is great because the machine will determine the amount of water needed eliminated wasted water usage.
4. Have everyone book the laundry room when they need it.
3. I now only have to wash my clothes, my husband's clothes, sheets, blankets, and towels.
No, I do not miss the days of "baby laundry"
Apartment living when they were only two of us:
1. Use washer/dryers on different floors of the apartment all at one time. Laundry was done in very little time.
2. Do laundry at a laundromat and do all your loads at once.
Oh dear Mom!! Maybe have Max and Julie do their own laundry?? I never get the motivation to DO laundry untill I run out of underwear! But I do love folding I can really channel my OCD tendencies into folding laundry...Kaitlin always makes fun of me.
The Elkin's MAKE their own laundry detergent! All it is is 4 ingredients that are all under 4 dollars i think they said and when they make it it makes 5 gallons!! Talk about money saver...but thats just another stay up all night project so just stick with Tide:)
xoxo
Maryn
I am NO help! To me, "laundry" could be substituted for interest in this quote: “Interest never sleeps nor sickens nor dies; it never goes to the hospital; it works on Sundays and holidays; it never takes a vacation. … Once in debt (Change to Once with kids), laundry is your companion every minute of the day and night; you cannot shun it or slip away from it; you cannot dismiss it; it yields neither to entreaties, demands, or orders; and whenever you get in its way or cross its course or fail to meet its demands, it crushes you.” haha
I also use Tide he. :)
ugh!! I HATE laundry!!!! I also use Tide.
I came back to check for good advice. Of course the older kids should do it! Maybe even the younger ones! I was doing laundry by 13 or 14 - whatever was in the room I did. I don't think I did it all the time though.
I try to make Mille fold her clothes and put them away, but that is so much more work! But maybe it will pay off...
oh the laundry joys. i really can't complain because there is just 4 of us. but i really just hate the never ever ending of it all. i really can't commit to ruinng a day and doing it all in one day, i just do it whenever and the folding and putting away is where my true non-perfectionest side can really come out! and i put in my time for 5 or 6 years doing apartment laundry, never again. i was so excited when i didn't have to always be hoarding the loonies anymore.
oops that was me just now, not bea. shared computer at this house, it happens!
Karen,you are incredible!
I will share with you a horrific truth that I began during the first year after I had the twins were born.
Firstly, however, I must say I'm surprised you use Tide simply out of just having always done it...I thought that using Tide because you just did was purely an American thing...0:D and of course, being American, it is ok for me to say that. I love the smell of Tide.
Now, for the horrific truth. If my girls wear something and by some miracle it is still clean at the end of the day, I put it back in the drawer. The second horrific truth...I cannot believe I'm telling this...For the kids, when I finally get all their clothes washed, I don't fold them. I just sort them and stick them in the drawers. During that first year I tried folding them, but before I could finish putting them all away someone had pulled them all out onto the floor.
So, there are my two terrible secrets to sanity and happiness in my clean looking house.
When my kids are older I will teach them to fold their own clothes...until then, no worries.
Happy Sabbath!
AND
Happy Valentines Day!
I forgot to share something else...
Wool pants.
Its not much use to you now, but for moms with kids 3 and under, they are a life saver. Here is why:
1. They are washed in Lanolin, meaning that if they get damp or wet the Lanolin creates anti bacterial soap...self washing pants for small kids, right?
2. They are cozy in both warm and cold weather, you can get cute ones that they can use either day or night.
3. They can double as a cloth diaper protecting layer for bedtimes to keep bedding dry and nice.
4. Spills of milk, juice, etc. just roll right off of them...I am sure you can remember how frequently 3 year olds spill their drinks at the table.
Anyway, I just LOVE kids wool pants!!!
And as far as cloth diapers, we've got 3 in them and have had for 3 years...I just wash a load every day. I've thought of getting disposables this summer since the twins will be potty trained and we will only have one in diapers, but I just can't seem to force myself into the idea of spending XXX amount of $$$ on diapers each week that I will throw away after one use and leave lying around for hundreds of years after I die...Namely it just seems like throwing money away...
But Wool pants are excellent!!!
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