That's the phrase I used to explain my laundry habits to a friend I was talking to the other night. She tried to hide her disgust when I uttered my confession, but her eyes kind of glazed over and her smile reeked of disdain and pity; as though she was horrified at my revelation of slothful housekeeping.
You see, she had just told me that she does all three large loads of her laundry every Monday and has it washed, dried, folded, and put away all on that one day.
Well, hurrah for her!
She does laundry for three. Herself, her three year old daughter, and her girlie man husband who only wears one outfit a day.
I, on the other hand, have a family of six. I am the only one who manages to go through one pair of pants and one shirt a day. Everyone else has work clothes, play clothes, wet clothes from swimming, gym clothes, school clothes, the clothes they sharted in... Not to mention the sheets and the towels.
So while I am happy for my friend and her ability to anally finish her laundry by tackling all three loads once a week, I am OK with my system, too.
What is my system?
Wash enough of it that it doesn't suffocate us. And don't even dream of having it all finished until the last little boy grows up and moves out of the house.
As long as everyone has fresh underwear, who the hell cares?
Laundry is my new nemesis. I recently took this job over from my husband, and it made me realized how spoiled I was for the first 10 years of our marriage. Now, it sometimes sits in the washer for days before I remember to take it out, much less fold it. And I only have 2 kids... I have no idea how you do it with 4... and all boys at that!
ReplyDeleteWell, you know how I feel about laundry. And I can tell you, mine is never all washed, folded, and put away. We're lucky if it even makes it out of the dryer!
ReplyDeleteLaundry is my husband's job. Guess how many loads are sitting in my bedroom right now as a result of that decision. Go on, guess. I'll wait.
ReplyDeleteLaundry is the bain of my existence.
ReplyDeleteTwo year old boys are filthy little creatures. Now that we've added a new baby to the mix (how can something so small produce so much dirty laundry?) our washer and dryer are pretty much constantly running. But that's the easy part. It's the folding and putting away that we never seem to get to. At this very moment, there are 3 laundry baskets sitting in my family room, waiting to be folded. My guess is, it will never happen.
I'm just confused as to how you all got your husbands to take on that job in the first place!
ReplyDeleteLaundry. Should be a four letter word.
ReplyDeleteI have never caught up with it, ever. Why do they change clothes so often? I could wear the same thing for two days just to avoid the laundry.
And the things these varmits I live with, husband included, put in their pockets. It makes me scared to put my hands in them.
I have a confession to make, I have bought clothes, socks, underwear, you name it because they didn't have anything clean for certain last minute occasions.
Whew! Thank goodness I've got that off my chest!
Oh, yeah. The pockets can be bad. Crayons are the worst, but last night I found two grape jolly ranchers in the washer that I had missed before putting them in. They were rinsed down to little nubs. Smelled kinda good though.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't let my husband near the laundry. He has no concept of sorting--it all goes in together right? And then he wonders why his socks are gray and not white. It's easier to do it myself. I have decided that the towels don't count. If they sit in the dryer until the next time I do laundry, so be it.
ReplyDeleteWait.... You're supposed to SORT them??
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've had just 3 loads since Craig and I were first married! That chick doesn't know how lucky she is!
ReplyDeleteAh...3 loads...those were the days!! Seriously, laundry is public enemy number 1!!! My laundry habits are deplorable. I've given up on even sorting my children's loads...I just shove as much in to one load as I can possibly fit. When I bought my washer it said I could fit up to 17 pairs of jeans in one load. So heck, wouldn't that make like 34 pairs of kids jeans!! ha ha
ReplyDeleteThree loads??? I think I do three loads just of towels each week, and I'm only talking about a family of four! I honestly think I do some laundry almost every stinkin' day....and I really do try and have a "system".
ReplyDeleteThe best advice a good friend gave me about laundry was to buy everyone in the family WAY too many extra pairs of undies.....then even when you are way behind, they will have some clean in the drawer!
Ok maybe I am sick & need to have my head checked, but I like doing laundry. Always have & probable aways will. btw- I really love adding Oxyclean to the washer now! I love folding nice warm clothes fresh from the dryer..it is delicous..I know you are thinking I need a psychologist! However, I rarely have the time to fold it when it is still warm. I do like the "touch up" feature on my dryer though.
ReplyDeleteAfter 3 loads I start folding. Then, the children put it away.
I have reached the glorious stage of motherhood that my teenagers wash, dry, & fold their own clothing once a week.
So, that leaves me with the other 4 of us..and definitely in the summer there is way more laundry.
My goal for 2011 will be to have the other 2 tweens doing their own laundry. For sure!
Until recently I did all my laundry on Mondays too. Except that it was a HECK of a lot more loads than 3, and it usually spilled over into Tuesdays, and it all got folded and then usually sat in the baskets in the front room until the next Monday morning, when I had to put it all away so I could use the baskets again. But lately not even that has been happening. What happened to my laundry mojo?...
ReplyDelete