Laundry is not my friend; never has been. Will we ever form an agreeable relationship?
What is it about laundry that makes it so difficult (for some of us)? I have a washer and a dryer just outside of my bedroom, living comfortably in a small laundry room, complete with two rolling bins and a closet for detergents, cleaning supplies, and miscellaneous.
Two of the three children place their dirty clothes in the sectioned bins, and I know where to find the dirty clothes of the other kid…still working on her.
The husband and I have a laundry basket in our bathroom that gets emptied in with the kids’ laundry when it begins to overflow.
So far, so good.
Okay…the bin with the darks is high. The kids are looking for their favorite jeans in the laundry room. When found, I do the sniff test, run the iron over them, and...no problem.
Well…yes...it is a problem.
I’m behind…AGAIN…on the laundry!
I’m waiting to wash a load because the washer is filled with wet clothes that are waiting for the clean clothes in the dryer to be taken out and put on the top of the washer and dryer, but it’s occupied with the clothes that are waiting to be folded and put away, that are waiting for its owners (the kids) to come get’em…which could take an eternity.
So once again, I’m searching for the solution, which I already know, but can’t seem to get implemented.
My friend, Beth, told me that she gets help and motivation from FlyLady.net. One of the bloggy friends mentioned that site, too.
Another friend, Linda, told me that her boys do their own laundry - and they’re seventeen and fourteen! Talk about envy. My girls do an occasional load when their underwear drawer is empty. They know how to use the washer and dryer; why am I so slow to get them on a schedule?
My friend Robin and I decide to take action to get caught up - one complete load (from the hamper to the drawers/closets) per day. We agree to call or email each other to ask if it’s been started or done. I start off on a roll, and get half caught up. I email her, but no response.
The weekend comes along and I’m behind again, and I know she is too, so I email her and tell her we’ll start fresh on Monday.
Monday arrives, I call her, and she says, “I KNOW YOU’RE NOT CALLING ME ABOUT THAT LAUNDRY!”
Actually, I’m calling her to see if she wants to walk. Talk about sensitive. Umph!
Soooo…I’m going to catch up, then brag to her, and see if she’ll want to be like me, and have laundry bins that are not spilling over.
What is it about laundry that makes it so difficult (for some of us)? I have a washer and a dryer just outside of my bedroom, living comfortably in a small laundry room, complete with two rolling bins and a closet for detergents, cleaning supplies, and miscellaneous.
Two of the three children place their dirty clothes in the sectioned bins, and I know where to find the dirty clothes of the other kid…still working on her.
The husband and I have a laundry basket in our bathroom that gets emptied in with the kids’ laundry when it begins to overflow.
So far, so good.
Okay…the bin with the darks is high. The kids are looking for their favorite jeans in the laundry room. When found, I do the sniff test, run the iron over them, and...no problem.
Well…yes...it is a problem.
I’m behind…AGAIN…on the laundry!
I’m waiting to wash a load because the washer is filled with wet clothes that are waiting for the clean clothes in the dryer to be taken out and put on the top of the washer and dryer, but it’s occupied with the clothes that are waiting to be folded and put away, that are waiting for its owners (the kids) to come get’em…which could take an eternity.
So once again, I’m searching for the solution, which I already know, but can’t seem to get implemented.
My friend, Beth, told me that she gets help and motivation from FlyLady.net. One of the bloggy friends mentioned that site, too.
Another friend, Linda, told me that her boys do their own laundry - and they’re seventeen and fourteen! Talk about envy. My girls do an occasional load when their underwear drawer is empty. They know how to use the washer and dryer; why am I so slow to get them on a schedule?
My friend Robin and I decide to take action to get caught up - one complete load (from the hamper to the drawers/closets) per day. We agree to call or email each other to ask if it’s been started or done. I start off on a roll, and get half caught up. I email her, but no response.
The weekend comes along and I’m behind again, and I know she is too, so I email her and tell her we’ll start fresh on Monday.
Monday arrives, I call her, and she says, “I KNOW YOU’RE NOT CALLING ME ABOUT THAT LAUNDRY!”
Actually, I’m calling her to see if she wants to walk. Talk about sensitive. Umph!
Soooo…I’m going to catch up, then brag to her, and see if she’ll want to be like me, and have laundry bins that are not spilling over.
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What's your "domestic chore" challenge?
If you don't have one, it's okay to let the rest of us know that you're perfect. Really. :)
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30 comments:
I dont think I'm a fan of laundry either....but I don't totally mind it ;) have a great weekend!!
My current challenge is anything that interferes with blogging.
I HATE laundry too but I got new washer and dryers that take super short time and the dryer wasnt broken but my vent was backed up so it took 2 hours to dry a load so I hated laundry even more! It was like that for a year until I decided to call someone to unclog it! Now everything is super fast again and Ive been on a roll, although I still cant stand folding and putting away!
Dishes are my enemy...cant stand them...even more than laundry!
Hi There..I don't mind laundry unless its in a laundromat..I would have to say dusting..and I guess I hate it because I dont do it..only once in a while
Laundry, no problem. It's those darn stairs. I hate to haul out the vac and and maneuver, step by step to get up my furry girls dog hair. Yuk!
I'm no fan of laundry either, but a friend gave me the wise advice to do a load EVERY day, and now it's just habit.
I probably get most behind on the kitchen because it just seems like there's always something messy in the kitchen.
Floors. I hate to keep my floors swept and mopped. I'm doing ok with the laundry.
PS I don't like any of it!
I don't mind laundry, really. It's grocery shopping that bottoms out my list. It seems to be as neverending, well, as your laundry? We go through food so fast, and I'm always in that store!
I used to follow flylady but I love breaking rules so I fell off the wagon. :)
My dreaded chore is cleaning the showers! Ugh!
Boo does the laundry and for the most part, does a great job except he will wash everything in warm water. Talk about shrinking a few of my items of clothing but that's okay. It could be worse, right?
I know from when I lived in the US that its not a common practice - but in AUS we mostly hang our washing outside on the clotheslines. I have two clotheslines which I can do 4 to 6 loads of washing in one day and hang them straight on the line. No waiting for the dryer. Which means they usually dry in one day nice and clean and fresh, and you can bring them all in at once! Easy! Then I can fold them and either put them away or put them in the ironing pile.
Now THIS is my horrible task. I don't do the ironing very often. So sometimes the ironing pile gets too big!! Or I end up wearing the clothes without ironing. The neat folding can help iron out the words creases after a few days though!!
Ok whiners.. I don't have a washing machine, nor a dryer.. but have you heard me complain of the laundry HUH? You haven't? That is just because there are miles and miles of distance between us .... :) and I am not very loud.
Our bedroom hamper is always overflowing. I get to the point where I stuff everything we won't "need" back into the hamper so I don't have to deal with it, which means it's at least 1/2 to 3/4 full at all times. I don't even bother trying to keep up anymore... Between his clothes, towels and the kids (oh and bed sheets/blankets) I probably do at least twenty loads a week. I do about five loads during the week, and the rest on the weekend. If I did a few loads a day there would always be a pile in our living room lol
I don't mind folding/hanging and whatnot - my issue is waiting for things to dry. I can't stand sitting around waiting for load after load to be cleaned! My girls are 9, 10 and 11 and they've been putting their clothes away (folded and hung) for at least two years now. I make them sort their dirty clothes and put them away and feel that's enough for their age. I'll probably wash and fold them for at least five more years - just one of those things I feel is a mom thing to do;)
Also, I agree with Trish. I hate dishes more than laundry. Thank goodness my husband doesn't care that the house is never immaculate!
Come to Saipan...spend a month here doing things the old fashioned way...hand washing most of your clothes in rain water because the salty tap water will eat them...then...hang dry them...ALL of them because you need to be independently wealthy to own and operate a clothes dryer here (power costs way too much) OR go to the dirty, hot (no air-conditioning)and crowded public laundromat, yuck...then you will really know what it is to HATE doing laundry and ...you will LOVE your little laundry room, your dryer and your rolling bins...do this for 30 years and when you get to "civilization" once and a while you will love doing laundry. When I go home to visit my parents in Wisconsin I volunteer to do everyone's laundry! I guess it all depends on how you look at things. I've learned to appreciate many ordinary things living out here in the middle of no-where!
Argggghhhhh...laundry! Enough said! I've been doing it for almost 36 years of marriage and every pair-less sock would probably fill up my entire living room. Blech.
I am with you. Laundry is not a favorite thing.
ok, ok,... I admit... I'm perfect.
NOT!
um, I think I am domestically challenged in ALL chores. seriously.
flylady?!? I tried her for about a week. She blew my inbox up with 50 emails a day & made me feel really bad because my sink wasn't shiny in the morning. I think she has OCD.... or perhaps I'm just lazy. :)
I was thinking about your mountain of laundry...how about hiring someone to come in and just do laundry...is this possible? Just a thought....I hired a lady for a while to help me with some chores when the kids were little...it really helped me a lot! I'd volunteer to come and help you...but..I'm a little far away.. :)
nyc blog
try mine
http://boredmindnsoul.blogspot.com
HELLO EVERYONE!
I've had the most fun reading your comments. Where are my domestic divas? :)
Your honesty is what makes the conversation so interesting and real.
FARILA & NAKAMURAS, I wonder if life in another country will help us here in the good ol' USA & Canada. We are a little spoiled, aren't we? :)
Thanks for your offer to help NAKAMURAS...I wish you could! :) Your suggestion of hired help was suggested by my husband years ago when the kids were very young. He told me to drop off the laundry - pay for someone to do it. He got brownie points for that, but I perservered...and somehow we've always managed to be clean, and amazingly with ironed clothes (most of the time).
I'll end with the words of the great Martin Luther King, ladies, "We shall overcome" (concerning the chores) or maybe we won't. :)
MORE COMMENTS???
Domestic chore challenge? All of them, I hate housework. I so need a maid, but then I'd have to clean before she came!
My husband did the laundry today. Like all of it. Even sorted, let me say that you don't want to add the towels to the rest of the load. I'm worried.
Getting rid of clutter is my biggest challenge!!
SUZICATE - you take the words right out of my mouth!
MIDLIFE JOBHUNTER - There's always a price when a man does something for you. :) Hope those clothes don't have too much lint on them.
BUCKEROOMAMA - I've written a couple posts on the clutter challenge. Gettin' it down though!
Don't even speak to me of laundry! Have posted about it as well... why does laundry NEVER GO AWAY! Lovely post.
LADYBIRD WORLD MOTHER - I've got to find YOUR post on laundry and see how you handle it. :)
Enjoyed your visit - come back!
If I can have at least one day of the week where I'm not doing laundry, that's a success.
Anita,
I have hated doing laundry about as much as I hate grocery shopping. One thing that gets me through doing the laundry is to throw a load in first thing in the morning and to throw a load in at night before I go to bed. That seems to work for me. What still overwhelms me is ironing things so that I don't tip over the ironing board where I tend to stack the clean clothes. I make lists for the groceries and just cross off like it's one of my regular to do lists.
Zandra
HILARY, Mproblem is having too many days of not doing laundry. If I could manage at least 5 days a week, I'd be a success. :)
ZANDRA - That's a new one - stacking things on the ironing board. :) Good advice on the load in the morning and at night.
Ooooh laundry is definitely my arch nemesis!! LOL I can do 2-3 loads per day and still be behind!! It's never ending! Those darn kids and needing clean clothes! hmph! Clean sheets! Gah!
Other than that, cleaning the bathroom. HATE IT! 2 boys in the throws of potty training and 1 big boy whose aim is rather inconsistent make bathroom cleaning a nightmare! I clean some aspect of it multiple times a day - another never ending cycle!
ALICIA - I feel your pain! Sometimes I wonder if I will ever be on top of cleaning and laundry.
But then, I compare spending my life cleaning with spending it doing other things, and "other things" win.
We don't live in a dump, so I guess we're okay. :)
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