In the words of the genie from Aladdin, "It's not a pretty sight, and I don't like doing it!" (that one was for you Briana)
I digress...
I recently changed up the way we do laundry around here and it has revolutionized what was formerly the bane of my existence.
I kid you not. Re.vo.lu.tion.ized!
And because I love you all so much, I'm going to share this riveting information with you.
I now do laundry 2 set days a week (Mondays and Thursdays). If it is not one of those days then I rarely do a load. I don't mind doing 4 loads on those 2 days if it means I am "off" the others. Can I tell you how freeing that is to me on the other 5 days to know that I don't have to do laundry?!! Liberating, people, liberating.
I keep one laundry basket for the kids and one for Jeremiah and me. On laundry days the kids are responsible for bringing it to the washer. I then take care of the whole starting/switching the loads.
Ok, nothing too revolutionary about that. Here's where it gets fun...
Once everything is clean it ALL gets thrown into one big pile. The boys get one laundry basket and Ella gets the other. They sort all their clothes into their respective baskets, with Ella pulling hers and Zoe's.
Ok, are you ready for this?
Hold on to your butts...
They then fold and put away their own laundry.
Gasp, I know.
This leaves me with just mine and Jeremiah's and the towels and sheets. Ok, that really is a lie. That leaves me with just mine and Jeremiah's and the towels...because heaven knows our sheets don't get washed once a week. (If you think that is gross, please leave your comments to yourself as I really don't care what you think about my sheet cleaning habits.)
I should mention that in order for this to work, you will have to do what I did: prioritize my sanity higher than my OCD tendencies. Wrinkled clothes aren't that big a deal. Really. I just remind myself that at least they are wearing clothes that are clean. Some days I am just glad they are wearing clothes.
For the most part the kids are very agreeable about this new chore. I like to set a timer for 15 minutes and make a game out of it to see if we can be all done. And if I am feeling particularly crazy, we sometimes set it for 10 minutes.
Got any laundry tips that work for you? Share, please.
For the most part the kids are very agreeable about this new chore. I like to set a timer for 15 minutes and make a game out of it to see if we can be all done. And if I am feeling particularly crazy, we sometimes set it for 10 minutes.
Got any laundry tips that work for you? Share, please.
4 comments:
You don't wash your sheets EVERY week? GROSS. OK so I'm doing pretty good if I wash mine once a month. So who am I to judge? I have 3 very dirty,messy boys(4/8/11). A friend of mine revolutionized my laundry and quite possibly saved my marriage. Before- I did laundry when the central basket got full. Then I dumped it on the couch and sorted,folded everyones then it stayed there until ALL the laundry was done(drove hubby crazy). And you know as well as I do you are never DONE! Now, each boy has his own basket I do each child's laundry and fold it from the dryer into their basket and they take it upstairs and put it away.
We work very similar to you! We do laundry 2 days a week and I fold it and put it on the couch as the loads come out. My kids (3 boys age 8, and 1 girl age 4) then put ALL the clothes away (mine, my husband's, and our 8 week old's included). It works great for us!
Very awesome. And...you probably don't want to know how long we go before we clean our sheets. If people are honest...I'm probably in good company. ;)
Our girls enjoy helping with the laundry, although I have not yet handed over the 'hanging' clothes to them just yet, only their folded clothes in their drawers. Very proud of your kiddos, Jenn, and for you sitting aside those OCD tendencies!
Great start! And when your littles get a bit bigger they can take over the sorting as well. They can even do YOUR laundry to bless YOU! My bigs are a huge help in the laundry department because they started out young. Good job, Mom.
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