Y’all. I do so many things that make no sense.
My cups are where my plates should be, and vice versa. Just too lazy to change it.
I still hand-write my monthly budget, like my grandma did in 1950. Google template?!? What’s that??
But every once in a while, I surprise myself and do something really genius. Like my laundry. Are you ready to be jealous?
I don’t dread doing laundry.
I never have guilt about laundry I need to do.
We never run out of underwear, and we NEVER wear dirty pajamas out of desperation. (Out of preference? Absolutely. But only ’cause we want to. 🙂 )
So are you so intrigued as to how I’m a laundry super-mom?? Are you ready to know the secret?? Here goes!
Pick a laundry day.
Earth-shattering, right?? Did I lose you? Please: Do Not Leave. What I’m telling you is so simple, yet so wonderful, that it could literally change your (laundering) life.
Before I go any farther, I need to clarify how laundry day works:
- Choose one day of the week to be Laundry Day. It shouldn’t change. Unless a tornado shatters your dryer to pieces, or everyone in your house is laid up with Diphtheria, laundry day is laundry day. It’s like a sacred thing.
- Thus, pick a day that works for you. I highly recommend Monday. Everyone is tired from the weekend anyway, and doesn’t mind staying around the house. You won’t want to pick a day you have morning errands, or usually end up grocery shopping. Laundry day is special for laundry.
- Start the laundry first thing in the morning. I usually bounce out of bed immediately thinking, Monday! Laundry Day! (More or less.) And then I start organizing the clothes into like piles. When one load’s done, right in goes the second load. I usually do five loads, and they’re about done by naptime! Well, except the folding…
- Finally (and this is important) commit to putting the clothes away by nightfall. Or at least in a basket to the correct room. You will be so excited to not have to think about laundry all week, though, that I promise you will do this anyway.
Pros of my genius laundry system:
- You don’t find random mildewy loads in the washer five days later, because – hello! – you did them all during laundry day. You are amazing!
- As aforementioned, you never realize ten minutes before an appointment that someone has no clean socks. Can you imagine a life without that creeping, awful horror?? Ladies, I am here to tell you that it IS possible! 🙂
- Your husband will come home and be totally, totally impressed that not only have all his pants been washed since he left, but also, the children are alive, and you have (maybe even) made dinner. He will be in total, complete awe of you.
- You don’t have to sort, pile, organize, and put away SEVEN different loads during the week...You only do it once! I make all my little piles on my bed Monday morning, and by evening they are (usually) G.O.N.E. One pile of Sam’s pajamas, per week. Put away, and forgotten. Done, and done!
- Energy-efficient. No more washing three pairs of pants and a dishcloth, because somebody’s favorite khakis aren’t clean for church.
- At least one day of the week, you actually accomplish something.
Cons:
- You have to be home regularly on the same day.
- You still have to do your laundry.
- Your laundry won’t do itself. Did I say that already?
So are you intrigued? Anyone else with me? Any other “Laundry Day Lovers” out there with me!?
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hmm sounds like a good idea. I have to wash cloth diapers about 3x’s a week but I could easily try to do the rest of the clothes on Monday. The laundry is taking over the house here and I sure could use a better system.
Monday is our laundry day around here, too!! I’m so excited that I’m not the only one who locks everyone in the house on Mondays! No one can touch my Laundry Day or it throws the whole week off track!!
Do you know I actually thought of you when writing this post? We are kindred homemaking spirits for sure!! LOL
Mine is Wednesdays, only because I live in an apt complex and our common laundry area (that currently only has one working washer!) is least occupied that day. I’ve always loved laundry day, tho. I remember helping my mom growing up. I used to love folding my little sisters cute little clothes, and now I have my own little one’s clothes to fold!
I love your idea of “Laundry Day”. I do something similiar, but I’m one of the weird ones – I LOVE doing laundry. I even like to IRON!! Yeah, I know. I said I was weird. Unfortunately no one else in the family holds laundry is such high esteem as I do, so I limit it to one day a week and…I bribe them. On Laundry Day, I hold Pizza and Ice Cream as ransom. I fold all the clothes – I’m weird about the way I want things folded (again, I told you I was weird!) But the rest of the family has to put everything away – towels, sheets, clothes, etc. My mantra is “You want dinner and dessert? Put ’em away!” They also learned pretty fast that they still had to put the laundry away even if they decided against dessert. 🙂
Ha. It’s so funny to read this because I recently read another friend’s post where she said just the opposite! Laundry day wore her down, but doing one load a day made it easier!
I have to say that for me, because of my fatigue, I subscribe more to the latter and do 1-2 loads a day. I don’t love laundry but I don’t hate it either. Love seeing what works for other moms though!
Love this post! I am working on doing this today! 🙂
I am a Grandma now and still love doing the laundry. God blessed us with 3 great children. Our business was in our home so I could be home when the kids came in from school and they thanked me many times for being home for them. I didn’t home school them but I highly admire Mothers who do home school. It is a great way of schooling your children. I did laundry at random times of the week, but I really like your system here. I loved using the outdoors clothes line. The clothes smelled so fresh, especially the bed sheets and towels. I felt blessed to be able to do the laundry for my family. As they grew I taught each child how to wash and fold their own clothes, and they each had a different color of bath linens to take care of. I loved being a Mommy!!