Laundry, like sanctification, is a continual process.
It's true. Especially if you have little people around. Their laundry seems like the most difficult to me. Not that their's is all that hard to clean it just seems like there is just SO much of it no matter how small the load. It probably doesn't help that I let it pile up because they both have SO many clothes they could go awhile without washing. It's a vicious cycle that I am trying to break!
Before we moved the chore of laundry was the easiest for me to keep up. It also helped that I loved my new washer and dryer (I still do.) However, since we moved and especially since Miss A arrived on the scene laundry has been hit and miss. It's sad really. This week has been the beginning of new habits and getting laundry back on track has been one of those things. Granted we are only on Tuesday but it looks good so far. We will see how I am doing come Friday. HA!
There are times that I end up doing laundry all day. Not really my cup of tea. Although, if that is the place that I have worked myself into then I need to suck it up and press on to get the job done. FlyLady has recommended that if you do a load a day you will keep Mount Washmore away. I tried it before and it worked really well for me. For us, it can be more than one load a day but it beats five, six, seven... or more all in one day.
Here is what our schedule looks like:
Monday - Shirts, Diapers*
Tuesday - Whites
Wednesday - Gentle, Diapers
Thursday - Kids
Friday - Sheets, Towels, Diapers
Saturday - Pants, Any Catch Up Laundry
* These are the days we wash diapers when using cloth. It may or may not require more washings depending on how old baby is and how many diapers we have in our stash for that particular stage, etc. But this is usually what it looks like. Is it weird that I was WAY better at keeping up with laundry when the cloth diapers were in play?
The whole routine may look different for each person. Shirts are usually sorted in lights and darks. However, these mostly comprise of Husband's work shirts and generally can fit into one load. There will come a time when I sort by color the girl's clothes but right now they go in together and only sorted by if the belong to Miss L or Miss A. Sometimes it gets mixed but that's not a big deal at this point in time. Obviously Friday is a big day but I would rather have the extra family time on Saturday.
What does your laundry routine look like?
Cloth diapers gave me a better laundry routine, too!
ReplyDeleteSaturday night the children and I have a big laundry sorting party and get the first load or two through. Upon waking I shift and we simply keep it all humming along as much as possible Sunday morning and then continue on after church. Each load that comes out of the drier gets sorted between parents, girls and boys. I fold/hang ours, and the children all do their own. Ironing gets set aside and I take care of that on Monday or Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteFor us, starting Saturday night helps us feel like we're getting a head start.
The kids and I make it a worship celebration when we do laundry. We put on fun worship songs and sing while we fold. It really puts everyone in a better mood for doing such a mundane, never ending task.
ReplyDeleteLily is probably old enough now to put clothes in the washer for you and maybe help sort, yes? I have Sammy separate and match the socks and underwear, fold the washcloths and hand towels, and make a nice stack out of the cloth diapers and inserts. He's capable of quite a bit now, but I know when he was 18 mo. old he liked to put the clothes in the washer for me and sort the socks and diapers.
That little bit of sorting was very helpful and busting out our dance moves in the middle of folding can't be beat :)
I do all our laundry on Saturday. I keep 5 baskets in my closet so we sort as we throw them into the baskets each day, then I only have to sort the kids stuff into those baskets Friday or Sat. morning. I have a nice hanging rack in my laundry room. Nate gathers all the empty hangers and puts them there. Every load goes straight from the drier to either the hanging rack or for folded clothes, one of the five baskets now used for sorting by person (1 for me and Kevin, 1 for Caleb, 1 for Nate and 1 for E&W, 1 for socks/underwear/towels). Saturday night the hanging clothes are put on top of the coordinating basket and taken upstairs and put away, baskets returned to my closet. Nate sorts the socks and underwear sometime before Monday at 9am :) Sometimes laundry spills over into Sunday but I don't mind. It's funny, even when we have a busy Saturday it still gets done. A load goes in when we are leaving for a basketball game, comes out when we get home, etc. I have considered doing a load a day but when I have tried I have gotten so distracted with homeschooling,etc. that I end up finding said load soaking wet 2 days later, growing mold in the washer. YUCK. Our processes have to change with our family. I think I did more laundry during the week when I only had littles and wasn't schooling anyone. Keep up the good work!
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