Susie-Q&A

• May. 1, 2008 - Pretty Day

Just as the first of May ought to be. I hope we have more of them this week. I've lately been feeling as if I live in Seattle instead of the South.

I got the papers on the desk cleaned off today. I got some papers filed and a few scanned. I got rid of the cardboard boxes at the recycle center. I dropped off an application for a CVS card, so now I can join Catrina and Tonya on getting deals. :) I made calls and resolved a few things. I made a picnic date with the Mom We Met at Wal-Mart for next week. I signed us up for two field trips with a local homeschool group, to take place next week. I made a decent supper. Which my son refused to eat. And now it's, "I'm hungry!" and I'm losing my temper. Grr.

That's enough for a day, you'd think, but I'm way backed up on laundry, so maybe I ought to send everybody to bed and put in my new Andy Irvine/Paul Brady CD and do a folding/washing/drying marathon.

If I could come up with a workable laundry routine, it would probably solve 50% of my housekeeping frustrations. I've tried: do a load a day, do it all on one horrible laundry-focused day, do *two* loads a day (light and dark), recycle pj's, dirty basket in each kids' room, clean delivery basket for each room...you name it. I can't seem to make anything work. Urg. Laundry: my Waterloo.

Okay, thinking out loud here: What if I just piled dirty clothes in the closet all week and did all the wash starting on Thursday night, then all day Friday, and then had everybody sit down to a folding marathon late Friday afternoon? Obviously not the most careful way to do it while watching for stains. Also, cuts down on the possibility of clothesline use. The other problem I see with that is, what happens when we have to go out or have other things more pressing on those days? Going out throws off all housecleaning efforts.

I just hate laundry so much that having to do it every day is like a punishment. I hate it because I can't just focus on it and get it done (my preferred way of doing things). The process consists of so many steps that inevitably I am sidetracked and derailed before it ends.

On the other hand, nothing makes my flesh crawl like seeing a gargantuan pile of dirty laundry sprawling on the floor. Ew. That's probably the only reason I'm ever motivated to do the laundry. That, and the prospect of having to go unclothed.

I'm really bad at doing laundry, too. And honestly, it's not for lack of trying. My friends give us beautiful clothes for my children to wear, and somehow we manage to stain them right away. I'm not sure how! I soak things in Oxyclean, I spray them with stain treatment, but our clothes just don't stay nice. I just want to cry when I pull something out of the dryer and it has ugly stains all down the front. It's such a defeated feeling.

I really want to use my clothesline more, but that will only draw the process out. I hear it helps with stains, whereas the dryer sets them.

I am determined to conquer my laundry problem.

Comments

• May. 2, 2008 - Laundry!

Posted by Anonymous

I so feel your pain. I struggle with laundry, too, and always have. We are having to redo our complete septic system right now (EXPENSIVE), so I can tell you that a little laundry each day is easier on the system than a great big laundry day. Anyway, what works best for me (7 in the family) is to do 2-3 loads daily. When I'm consistent with that, it works well, when I'm not...you can picture what happens. I put up a new 5x7 size sticky note on my laundry room closet door each week, write out the days of the week on it and then make a tick mark on the appropriate day each time I put a load in the washer. It really helps keep me accountable each week and shows me what I am/am not doing. Also, I try to fold right out of the dryer. Once it's in a pile on the couch it seems to take up residence there. And, do you have stairs in your house? I put the kids clothes on the edge of the stairs leading up to their rooms. The youngest kid's clothes go on the bottom step, next youngest on the next step, and so on. It's their job to put the clothes in their drawers. And it's easy to see who hasn't done it. I think I will always struggle with laundry, but I feel a small amount of sanity when I follow these steps.

HTH! I love getting ideas from another mom in the trenches. I hope you don't mind me sharing my ideas.

Kitten

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• May. 2, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by msmarla

Nothing new to add here--I'm just going to second what the previous commenter said. My vote is definitely for keeping up with it every day. It is easier on the machines, it is less overwhelming to do one day's worth at a time, the stains don't have time to set, etc., etc.
I would only add that I would do whatever it takes to get ALL the laundry done every day. Some days will be really light, some will be heavy, but you will always be ready to face any surprise trips or illnesses.
OH, and one other thing. Start the first load at night before you go to bed and you have a load ready to hang out on the line first thing next morning. I learned that trick from the other mommies in England.
Can you tell this has been the bane of my life, too?

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• May. 2, 2008 - :)

Posted by CarpeBanana

Laundry. Ack.

I keep colors sorted on the floor next to my washer & dryer (they are in a room with our pantry so out of sight). Every day but Sunday I do 1-3 loads, whatever there are full loads of. Then, since she was about 8, Miss Language has had the joy of hanging them. Inside in winter (Amish drying racks) and out in summer. The dryer is sheets, towels, and illness only. She folds them dry and puts the baskets in a corner of my room. Towels, sheets, (and diapers, when we had them) get put away right away... everything else waits till Friday or Saturday, when all the baskets come out and stuff gets sorted on the master bed by owner... who then gets whatever help is needed in restocking their drawers. At sorting time, the girls have to labor in what is called "sock purgatory" making all possible matches.

Quite a system, if you have the space.

But I wanted to know, what's the latest on the FLDS kids? I have lost track but suspect they are in bureaucratic limbo. Do you know of a reliable source to keep up on this? TIA

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• May. 2, 2008 - <em>Untitled Comment</em>

Posted by 4sweetums

The never ending laundry~
The two things that have really helped around here is reducing the amount of clothes the kids own. I only put 8 outfits in the drawer and everyone has the same amount of everything so that supposedly no one runs out of anything first. THis doesn't always work with potty training, boys seem to get dirtier, etc. But I have noticed it tamed the laundry. If I am lucky to have more clothes for the kids than 8 outfits I keep the extras put away for when they stain or ruin something. I also start a load at night and another load first thing in the morning. In crazier times in my life, like when there were 3 under 3 kids in the house, I ditched folding and just threw the clothes into drawers. It really wasn't all that much more wrinkled. Good luck!
Blessings,
Dawn

Edited by 4sweetums on May. 2, 2008 at 7:33 PM

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• May. 2, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Rose

I second the motion to get the laundry started at night, then hung out on the line first thing in the morning. Laundry is actually a very patient creature .. it will soak up the sun all day with nary a complaint. I find that clothing is less susceptible to wrinkling when it is line dried, and I enjoy folding the laundry as I take each item down from the line. I've been known to sniff each item as I fold it, too.

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