Dear Family Volley,
How can I get the laundry off the couch and still make time for the kids? I swear it's the one household chore that takes up the most of my time. I try to do it at night but I am just too tired and I don't want to take care of it when the kids are napping since I like that to be "me" time so...???
Thanks for your help!
Meredith
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Dear Meredith,
Why can't laundry just do itself? Or, why can't we buy one of the machines the Jetson's used to use?
Unfortunantly the laundry never goes away, and it is haunting. It would always make me feel bad when someone yelled, "Mom, do I have underwear?", or "Honey, is my red shirt clean?"
When I got married and then we had our first child, I was so over whelmed by the laundry. I could get it washed and dried, it was the folded and put away that was a problem. I used to move the clean piles around the house for days, until I finally had to sit down and spend hours folding and putting away all the wash. It would make my back hurt so bad, and it made me dislike laundry even more. I didn't want to sacrafice time with my family, and like you, when my children are sleeping, I need some time. And nights just don't work. I am tired and want to hang out with my husband. Then we had our second child and I was really in over my head.
So...this is what I did. At first it might sound crazy, but stay with me.
As part of my morning routine, I start a load of laundry every morning when I wake up. By the time breakfast is made I can switch the load to the dryer, and by the time I return home from dropping our son off at school, the load is about dry and ready to be folded and put away. By 10am the laundry is done for the day. I don't have to think about it again. It gives me time and sanity. I consider it a little gift I give myself.
Because I do this everyday the loads are small, they are not overwhelming. It only takes 15 minutes to take care of all of it. Then it is off my mind, my kids and husband have all they need, and I don't have to sacrifice time with my family, or my own time. It has completely changed my life as a mom. I feel great satisfaction knowing that I am on top of the laundry. I used to think about how I needed to do the laundry all day long. Now, it is one less thing to think about.
It will take about two weeks to really see the benefits and get into the swing of this new routine, and I know the idea of laundry everyday might not sound promising, but it really works.
Try it, get out of bed and throw the load in.
It will allow you to get the clothes off the couch and be with your kids. After all, the last thing you want is for your children to feel that the laundry is more important than they are. They will remember the time you spend together for the rest of their lives.
Happy Washing
Family Volley
Anyone else do laundry this way?
Yep, that's how I did it too when my kids were home. It also helps to have a bin/hamper/basket for whites and one for darks and train your family to put the whites in the white bin and darks in the darks bin. I had a basket for each child and would fold clothes and put them right in their own basket so they could put their own clothes away. It became part of their daily chores so it was less work for me and I could spend more time with them. Kids at a very young age can fold washclothes and towels. Lower your expectations of how it "Has" to be done.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great idea!!! I also try and do at least one load a day in the morning. I confess to being stuck sometimes when it comes to MY own laundry after it is washed and dried. Both my kids can hang up/put away their own clothes after I wash them (ages 7 and 4 1/2). They also do the towels, washcloths, rags, and socks. But for some reason my clothes tend to take longer to make it to the closet....maybe I should put them on parent clothes duty, too.... ;)
ReplyDeleteThis is great! My entire laundry room floor is covered in all of the clean clothes I washed this weekend. I think this will help me get it under control. Now if I can justy get my husband to actually use the three bin hamper. I am contemplating just leaving his clothes in the exact spots he did and doing the laundry without them. Then let him know that next time if they are where they should be they will get done, and possibly folded:)
ReplyDeleteI do a load every day. and if a miss a day, it still isn't bad. When I tried to do it once a week or any other way it would take over my house and my life. I find I do better at changing sheets and washing towels this way to because if there isn't enough for a full load it is easy to tuck it in.
ReplyDeleteMy sweet husband put a washer a dryer in the master closet for me. It is the best! I just take our clothes out and hang them right up, and have the kids take their own up to their rooms every day.
ReplyDeleteI just starting doing it this way a few weeks ago and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! I hate doing the laundry and I hated "Laundry Day". Spreading the laundry out over the week makes it feel so much more manageable and much less like "The chore of doom".
ReplyDeleteThe other thing I've started doing is folding laundry outside while the kids play. For some reason it makes it much less chore-like!
Kellie, that is the one thing we are saving for. An addition above the garage that will house the laundry room. Right now it is two floors down in the basement. Can't wait for that to end.
ReplyDeleteI love hearing that this works for other people. When I made the switch to the everyday, it changed..well..everything. I felt like I had control again.
I don't do it once a day! I do it 3 times a week. I do the kids one day.. it's two loads. Whites & Darks (my kids don't wear light colored clothes) The reds and pinks are put in a bin for another day. Then I fold the clothes right there in piles and it's just kid clothes. They go right into the drawers. Then the next day is my husband and I. Whites and darks... and then there is usually a small lights pile too. Then those get folded that night just before bed by both of us on our bed. It takes about 10 minutes. Then the next day is the odd pile... it's usually the reds and pinks.. and towels.
ReplyDeleteI might try everyday... we used to do it all on Saturday, but that was a huge chore. It was like the washing machine never stopped.
I don't. But I'm so going to start!
ReplyDeleteI just had my second baby, and that is how I do it now. Little ones create so much GROSS laundry, I don't want it to sit. And it works really well for us.
ReplyDeleteThat is how I do it as well. Sometimes I have to do 2 loads in a day- but it never takes up more than half an hour of my day. SOOO much better than trying to tackle the whole mountain in one day.
ReplyDeleteI am SO trying this!
ReplyDeleteOK OK, I'll give this a try. I HATE the overwhelm because of my own procrastination. I also have three kids, sometimes four, as my (2yr old)nephew is here 4-5 days a week and often overnight. I HAVE to do something to simplify this part of my life! Thanks :)
ReplyDelete