A New Lease on L...
LAUNDRY!!!!!
Ha! You thought I was going to say "Life" eh? WRONG! Although now that I think about it, a mom's life is made up of laundry, so I guess the two words could be interchanged...to a point.
Over the past few weeks, I have FINALLY mastered how to do laundry without allowing it to overwhelm me. I must say, it's been somewhat forced upon me with Jaden throwing up all over her bedding and herself, everyone getting muddy at the helecopter egg drop, Jaden having a bloody nose all over her bed, etc. Let me explain...
You see, I'm an "all or nothing" type of person. My house is either near perfect, or near disaster. My laundry has always been either all dirty, or all clean. I'm either all caught up, or terribly behind. I get a fabulous "high" when I can check something off of my to-do list and it's usually well deserved because each item on my list is always extensive and takes quite awhile to do!
In college once I began doing my own laundry on a full-time basis, I was known for letting it pile up for 6 weeks or more at a time. I have even admitted to buying new underwear & socks to avoid the dreaded laundry. Only once my laundry pile threatened to take over my whole room would I drag it to the laundry mat and do upwards of 10 loads of laundry in one sitting. It was horrible, but I couldn't see the value at that time of wasting small bits of time each week doing laundry when there were friends to hang out with, homework to be completed and too many other fun college-life things that I didn't want to miss out on. So that was my laundry routine...and I never realized until now how much it stunk!
Once married, Scott and I decided we'd each do our own laundry and that I would take care of baby laundry with my own. The number 1 factor in this decision was that Scott is not of the all-or-nothing style and hated that I would wash every single item in his "dirty" pile in one sitting. We don't have much dresser space and he said he did not have enough room for all of the clean clothes. So for the past 3 1/2 years I've done only my own and the kiddos' laundry and when Scott gets really backed up on his, I catch him up with a load or two. I've still mostly stuck to letting the laundry pile nearly reach the ceiling before conquering it. That is...until recently :)
A few weeks ago I decided that I was going to try to only do one load of laundry and put it away. I had to hold myself back from moving onto loads number 2, 3, & 4, but I did it. And it was so easy. I didn't have to leave folded laundry out for 24 hours or more and gradually add to each tall, wobbling pile as the dry clothes exited the dryer. For the first time ever, I was through with the folding & putting away in 20 minutes flat. This gave me a whole new perspective, but I still doubted that my one-at-a-time style would continue. So then we had the helecopter egg drop where our entire family came home covered in mud. I threw all of the muddy duds in the washer and did just one load that day too. This was getting fun! When Jaden recently had a stomach bug and thew up all over her bed, I washed two loads of the really bad bedding one day, followed by two loads of the rest of what was germ-covered-but-not-puke-covered the next day. And the pattern has continued. I do 1-2 loads a couple of times each week, put them away as they are done, and voila, I get to check off something on my to-do list in a whole lot less time!
I can see the faces of many of you laughing and at the same time wondering if a screw was loose in my brain until now. I don't know what ever possessed me to think that my old laundry ways were ever good, but I had to learn on my own time a better way. And I have! I have a new lease on laundry!
Ha! You thought I was going to say "Life" eh? WRONG! Although now that I think about it, a mom's life is made up of laundry, so I guess the two words could be interchanged...to a point.
Over the past few weeks, I have FINALLY mastered how to do laundry without allowing it to overwhelm me. I must say, it's been somewhat forced upon me with Jaden throwing up all over her bedding and herself, everyone getting muddy at the helecopter egg drop, Jaden having a bloody nose all over her bed, etc. Let me explain...
You see, I'm an "all or nothing" type of person. My house is either near perfect, or near disaster. My laundry has always been either all dirty, or all clean. I'm either all caught up, or terribly behind. I get a fabulous "high" when I can check something off of my to-do list and it's usually well deserved because each item on my list is always extensive and takes quite awhile to do!
In college once I began doing my own laundry on a full-time basis, I was known for letting it pile up for 6 weeks or more at a time. I have even admitted to buying new underwear & socks to avoid the dreaded laundry. Only once my laundry pile threatened to take over my whole room would I drag it to the laundry mat and do upwards of 10 loads of laundry in one sitting. It was horrible, but I couldn't see the value at that time of wasting small bits of time each week doing laundry when there were friends to hang out with, homework to be completed and too many other fun college-life things that I didn't want to miss out on. So that was my laundry routine...and I never realized until now how much it stunk!
Once married, Scott and I decided we'd each do our own laundry and that I would take care of baby laundry with my own. The number 1 factor in this decision was that Scott is not of the all-or-nothing style and hated that I would wash every single item in his "dirty" pile in one sitting. We don't have much dresser space and he said he did not have enough room for all of the clean clothes. So for the past 3 1/2 years I've done only my own and the kiddos' laundry and when Scott gets really backed up on his, I catch him up with a load or two. I've still mostly stuck to letting the laundry pile nearly reach the ceiling before conquering it. That is...until recently :)
A few weeks ago I decided that I was going to try to only do one load of laundry and put it away. I had to hold myself back from moving onto loads number 2, 3, & 4, but I did it. And it was so easy. I didn't have to leave folded laundry out for 24 hours or more and gradually add to each tall, wobbling pile as the dry clothes exited the dryer. For the first time ever, I was through with the folding & putting away in 20 minutes flat. This gave me a whole new perspective, but I still doubted that my one-at-a-time style would continue. So then we had the helecopter egg drop where our entire family came home covered in mud. I threw all of the muddy duds in the washer and did just one load that day too. This was getting fun! When Jaden recently had a stomach bug and thew up all over her bed, I washed two loads of the really bad bedding one day, followed by two loads of the rest of what was germ-covered-but-not-puke-covered the next day. And the pattern has continued. I do 1-2 loads a couple of times each week, put them away as they are done, and voila, I get to check off something on my to-do list in a whole lot less time!
I can see the faces of many of you laughing and at the same time wondering if a screw was loose in my brain until now. I don't know what ever possessed me to think that my old laundry ways were ever good, but I had to learn on my own time a better way. And I have! I have a new lease on laundry!
Comments