Laundry is a noun that refers to the act of washing clothing and linens, the place where that washing is done, and/or that which needs to be, is being, or has been laundered.
Thank you Wikipedia.
How do you do laundry?
Do you have a system?
A pre-scheduled day of suffering each week?
Do you like it? (shudder)
Do you make your kids do it?
Do you just give everything away once a month and buy all new clothes?
After you wash it do you fold it right there?
Do you put it on your table?
Your bed?
Leave it in the baskets and let people fish for what they need?
How do you fold your laundry with you children awake?
How do you put the clothes away when your children are asleep?
Laundry is my nemesis... I'd rather clean toilets every day, all day.
Unfortunately, laundry isn't one of those things you can fudge.
It's done or it's not.
So- how do you do it?
And how do I keep from growing a small mountain on my bedroom floor in my effort to avoid it?
(I told you, moving things from the not good at to the good at pile this year)
Thank you Wikipedia.
How do you do laundry?
Do you have a system?
A pre-scheduled day of suffering each week?
Do you like it? (shudder)
Do you make your kids do it?
Do you just give everything away once a month and buy all new clothes?
After you wash it do you fold it right there?
Do you put it on your table?
Your bed?
Leave it in the baskets and let people fish for what they need?
How do you fold your laundry with you children awake?
How do you put the clothes away when your children are asleep?
Laundry is my nemesis... I'd rather clean toilets every day, all day.
Unfortunately, laundry isn't one of those things you can fudge.
It's done or it's not.
So- how do you do it?
And how do I keep from growing a small mountain on my bedroom floor in my effort to avoid it?
(I told you, moving things from the not good at to the good at pile this year)
I make my kids do it. Well, not mine and John's, but theirs. They have to sort it into whites, darks, colors (which is actually amazing because when I do their laundry I toss it all in at once!) and then they take turns getting to be the one to carry the pile to the washer, getting to be the one to pick up anything the other one drops, getting to be the one to turn the dial to the right place, getting to be the one to put the soap in...you get the point. If I spin it that way "you GET to..." it totally makes them excited (and even fight over who's turn it is!). They do their laundry on Thursdays. If we're out and about then Friday. If we have a laundry dilemma (like, oh, a 3yo who has forgotten how to pee on the potty!) then I'll do it in between. But really they have enough panties and clothes to make it through.
ReplyDeleteAs for OUR laundry...it gets done at the last possible minute. Usually culminating in a day of nonstop laundry (like today!). I find if I put it on the sofa or bed I'm more likely to get it folded and put away than if I put it in baskets. It'll sit in baskets-usually folded-until I need that basket for another load and then it often gets dumped.
Oh, and the girls love folding. They "smash" their panties (because really, how do you fold panties!?) and match socks (which is fun when it's Dad's dark socks and they all look similar, but not the same!) and as long as it doesn't have to be hung up they put their clothes away as well as 1/2 of mine!
Hmm....maybe this response should have been a post on my blog-it's so long...sorry! But in my defense, you asked a LOT of questions about laundry!
I do it all, a load of diapers first thing in the morning and then usually at least one or two loads of the kids right after that. I have started folding on the kitchen table and put them away. Dan's and mine I will usually do on Fri/Sat. But as of right now I just need to do a load of darks of ours so that is what I will do tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI was just talking to a Dutch lady about laundry today... it is a universal topic of discussion. I thought maybe when my children were grown, I should take up a job as a professional laundress,after all those years of doing laundry, but I haven't done it yet..
ReplyDeleteTips I learned over the years of doing 7 to 9 peoples laundry:
1. have everyone sort there own as they put it in the dirty clothes. Then w/one glance, you can see what needs done.
2. Have play clothes and school clothes. You will wash fewer clothes.... If a play shirt gets a little paint on it, you can still wear it tomorrow. A school shirt, no.
3. Don't have to many clothes! 4 changes will keep you up to date on the laundry and will make putting them away easier. (I'm talking potty trained folks) Keep what the kids will wear and donate everything else.
4. Socks, oh my enemy. Go for one color. No matching problems. Everyone can share if that works, or everyone has one style of their one color.
5. Let the kids put away their laundry... they're going to be digging through it anyway to get dressed.
6. Fold where you MUST put away the laundry... I did the kitchen table.
7. I liked doing a load a day, or 2 every other day because I don't like mountains. I love clothes lines... but, I found it very easy to leave clothes on their for a couple of days...
Of course now it is the two of us and the dogs and I don't follow these rules veery well....
4 changes! Wow....my girls would murder me if they only had 4 choices. Hmmm...come to think of it, though, it'd be nice and handy to be able to say "I'm sorry, that's dirty, you have 2 other choices, and that's it."
ReplyDeleteIf you become a professional laundress, I'll be your first customer. Seriously.
I think your being her first customer conflicts with one of her rules - Kids sort their own and put away.... But I guess that's not a bad deal. Someone else washes and folds.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tips. :)