The Daily Wash

I have a friend with a large family (8 kids) who does laundry 2-3 times a week.

I don't understand how that is possible, but she is super-organized and put together, and her kids appear to be wearing clean clothes. In her house, laundry is a project. It's one of those things that need to get done a couple of times a week and it takes time (a few hours) each time she does it.

It works for her.

That does not work for me. The point being, if your current laundry system is working for you, keep it. Don't change a thing.

It not, read on. Remember though, what works for us, may very well not work for you.

In my house, laundry is one of those daily things we must do each day. It's like brushing your teeth, packing lunches, making and serving dinner, and cleaning up the kitchen at the end of day. These things need to get done at some point every day before my head hits the pillow each night.

I can, however, go to sleep if toys are a mess in the playroom and if the dishwasher needs to be emptied. I also have no insomnia issues if the mail lies unopened or the bills need to be paid (unless of course they will be late). These are examples of things that can get done as they need to happen. There is no schedule.

Laundry needs to get done everyday. If not, the clothes appear to reproduce while we sleep and I wake up to a room where the baskets can no longer be seen because they are blanketed with clothes.

By doing it everyday, it is not "a project" - I have too many projects.

I am blessed to have a mother who has come to my house on many occasions to pitch in. With my first, she stayed a week. With my second, I got two weeks. Of course, I always wanted her to stay longer, so I had quadruplets for 3-6 and she stayed for 6 months! When I would complain about doing the laundry, she would joke, "How hard is it to do laundry??? What? Do you take it to the River Nile and beat it?" I am positive that after number 7 was born (I was bumped back down to 2 weeks), she was no longer making any laundry jokes.

It's a lot. It's a huge job. Part of the battle is to acknowledge that it is not easy to keep up (no matter how many children), and any success needs to be recognized.

Make a schedule that works for you. More importantly, stick to that schedule. No matter what. Laundry should not overwhelm you. If it does, whatever you are doing needs to be fixed.

Next post, I will tell you how it works in my house.