Life Changing
If you should know anything about me, know this: Laundry is my nemesis.
Laundry and I do not get along. I neglect it and in turn it multiplies like rabbits and takes over my entire existence on this earth. I often ask myself how our laundry situation gets so bad. I mean, there are two and a half of us. How could we possibly generate this much laundry? It just ain’t natural.
But I’m coming to realize that most of our laundry isn’t clothing. It’s all that other stuff. It’s towels (oh, the towels…). It’s sheets. It’s dish rags and dog towels and bibs covered in macaroni and cheese. It’s rags and wash cloths and crusty diaper bags. And buried in the middle of all that extra fabric are pieces of clothing.
It’s a nightmare, is what it is.
A couple weeks ago, my Grandma came to stay with Bean one day because he was sick and Chris and I couldn’t stay home from work. While she was here, she did all my laundry. All of it. In about five hours. And for the next five days I sat around trying to figure out how it was mathematically possible to wash that much laundry in five hours. Finally, I decided it didn’t matter how she did it. The point was she did it. She had wiped my laundry basket clean. I had been given a gift of a new beginning.
And so, like many times before, I vowed to never let my laundry situation get out of control again. And then Chris laughed at me. And then I laughed. And then I cried. And then we went to bed.
I’m in the middle of trying to pull myself out of this deep hole that I’ve been in for a couple months and part of that process has been setting small goals for myself. Now, when I come home from school I am not allowed to lay down. I might sit on the couch for a minute and rest my tootsies, but I don’t let myself lay down. Because when I lay down, I have had the tendency lately to close my eyes and just pretend nothing exists. Not good.
In the past couple weeks, I have continued to make my goals bigger each week. First it was the no laying down thing. Then it became cooking dinner again. Then I moved on to doing Bean’s bath at night. And after a couple weeks of adding to my regiment what I’m sure most normal people would consider very simple tasks, I finally feel a little more normal in the evenings. I’m contributing. I’m being productive. And, most importantly, I’m not wallowing in some dark place of worry or sleeping my days away.
Last week, I added laundry to my goals. I would finally, after years and years of lecturing, take my mother’s advice and do one load of laundry a day. I have always fought against this practice because I thought that it would mean I would be doing laundry all the time. But, really, one load of laundry doesn’t take much time at all. And it takes WAY less time than spending three solid days doing laundry that I haven’t done in a month. I just put a load in the washer, make dinner, move the laundry over, give Bean a bath, and while Chris is putting him to bed, I fold it while I’m watching TV. And – voila! – I have clean laundry! All the time!
I’ve never had this many clean clothes in my closet for any extended period of time in my life! It’s amazing! Every day I have something to wear! It’s AMAZING, I tell you!
I’ve never had this many clean sheets and towels in my linen closet at one time before! EVER! I just keep looking at it in awe!
We have company coming to town this week for Thanksgiving and I’ve never been able to get my house in order so quickly! There’s no hiding of laundry piles or frantically shoving as many clothes as can fit into the washing machine – not to wash them, but to hide them for a weekend. It’s a BEAUTIFUL thing!
Now, I realize that to most of you, this is common sense stuff and I’m sure you are judging me for my cleaning habits. But let me tell you, this battle has been fought for YEARS in my house. YEARS, I tell you.
And it’s not just that. It’s a definite change in me from the past few months of total avoidance. Even a victory over something as trivial as laundry makes me feel pretty good these days.
Who knows what’s next for me? Maybe I’ll even start to fill up my gas tank BEFORE the warning light comes on and my car starts to putter.
Eh, probably not.
Let’s be realistic here.
30 Comments
Life of a Doctor's Wife
ARGH – the laundry is my nemesis too! It does seem to pile up out of nowhere. But I have been much better lately at doing it when the bins get full. And I’m talking normal full, not overflowing full. Like you, it amazes me how such a simple thing as Laundry Control can make our entire home seem more organized!
Jamie
I dont think you’re crazy. I know EXACTLY what you mean. Finding the time to get my house clean makes me feel like Im on top of the world, like I saved a baby whale. Granted, Its just me and my husband so I only need to do it once a week, but finding the time and energy simultaneously is nothing to joke about! Congrats on conquering this battle!
Rebekah M.
my sweet neighbor gave me a hint. When her children were growing up, she did 2 loads of laundry each day (it was a 4 person family) and on the weekends she would do roughly 5 loads of laundry. the weekends were reserved mostly for blankets/sheets/towels. i haven’t tried it yet…but it sounds like a pretty good idea!
Nate's Mom
I think I would do laundry more if the laundry room were on the 2nd story where we produce the most stuff to be washed! It’s a dream of mine. That and having a garbage disposal. Chad and I split the duties: he washes the clothes and I fold & put them away. With our work schedules though, it still piles up and we can find ourselves without footie pajamas for Nate or no clean pj pants for ourselves. Laundry. It’s a beast.
Ashley
how long have you been living outside your parent’s house? cause I’m the same way so just wondering how long does it go before the “one load per day” thing clicks…I’m 4 years into and nothing, I get the concept but having trouble with the execution part…
Maureen
That’s great! I would do laundry more if I didn’t have to go outside to do it and proceed to share machines with other people’s stinky clothes. That’s my least favorite part. And folding. I HATE folding.
Katy
Ok, I totally absorbed the wrong message, but I AM UNBELIEVABLY JEALOUS OF YOUR STORAGE SPACE. I have no full-sized closets (clothes or linen), and I’m just DROOLING. Downside of old houses!
Amy
Here’s something to take crusty bibs out of your laundry pile. This is something you need. My kids are 8 and 6 now, but I consider this baby item a must-have and I still buy this little gem for all my pregnant friends: The Baby Bjorn bib. AWESOME for toddlers. It catches everything they drop and then just rinses off. Add this to your amazon wish list! http://www.amazon.com/BABYBJ%C3%96RN-Soft-Bib-Pack-Blue/dp/B0002OT00U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1290525373&sr=8-1
Alaina
Congrats! That’s so great you’re keeping up with it, and it is amazing how much that stuff multiplies. I feel like I’m always doing laundry, and we don’t even have kids yet!
Jenny J. @ Fondant Is Gross
That’s so great! I wish I could be so structured… Hopefully when I have a house and my own washing machine and dryer!
Mindee@ourfrontdoor
Katie! That is awesome! I know I feel more at peace within myself if my surroundings are peaceful. I’m sure it’s helping you too.
Tressa
I’m not judging you Katie!! I think it’s awesome you tackled this problem and won! That’s a positive step forward 🙂
I get up early (4:15am) so I always throw in a load when I get up. So it’s washed, dried and put away before I leave for work in the morning. I only have two of us, my husband and I, but there’s nothing like an empty laundry basket!! I have a three compartment basket that I can keep it separated at all times. Very Very convenient.
Renee
Laundry and I do not get along. At all. I feel like I can never be caught up, which makes me feel a little depressed. I think that doing one load a day is good plan, except that it’s just hubs and me so we probably don’t have that much laundry. Maybe a load every other day. Thanks.
Lindsay (YoungMarriedMom)
Don’t discredit yourself; taming the laundry beast is no small task. Congratulations to you! I’m sure Bean and Chris are noticing that they are starting to get their happy, healthy Katie back, and as my husband often says, a happy mom makes for a happy family. Much to be thankful for this week!
Breann
Something I do is start the laundry in the washer, go to work, come home put it in the dryer, and then fold it after dinner while watching tv. Seems to work out better, like you say, than trying to do it all in the evening or all on Saturday/Sunday when you husband keeps saying “Have you seen my jeans?”
Melanie
Boy, can I relate!! I’ve been going through the same “deep hole” issue for a while. I have very similar issues of demanding too much from myself and having super-high expectations. My laundry pile is huge, too. I know it would be beneficial to do a little at a time but I’m still struggling with it… thanks for your openness. Keep up the great work!
Melissa
My husband just came home after being out of state for work for THREE weeks. While he was gone, I had clean clothes, towels, and sheets the entire time. Even when I didn’t fold the clothes, after a few days, I had worn everything that was sitting the “clean” basket, so I never felt like I was drowning in a sea of laundry. But now my Chris is home. And he brought his two huge suitcases of dirty laundry back with him.
TWO SUITCASES KATIE. TWO! And he takes two showers a day and uses a fresh towel each time. He’s been home for 2 days now and I’m getting ready to kick him out. You know, if I could climb out of the black hole laundry room for more than 2 hours at a time.
My name is Melissa, and I’m afraid my washer is going to drown me and my dryer is going to burn me alive in the laundry room.
Casper
She was able to do it all in five hours because my guess is soon as the W/D were done she switched them around. Most people forget they were doing laundry and it ends up sitting there for a couple before you remember to switch it to the dryer. I am the person that saves it all for one day but I change them around as soon as they beep, so it doesn’t take that long to get it all done in one day. I am sure once the baby comes along I will be doing it more often though! You are doing great! Keep up the good work. Glad things are going better for you.
Diana
Katie another thing that has helped me over the years (I have four kids who are now grown) is to lower my standards regarding each load. There’s no reason I can’t throw in a couple of light towels with my light loads rather than washing everything completely separate (like only towels, only sheets). I had even gotten to the point where I had a white/light load not everything was completely white. Well, it works for me and it made for fewer loads.
Mrs. Jen B
I’m super glad that this is working for you, and that you’re feeling a bit more productive. I went through the same thing when we moved in with f-in-law after he got sick. It’s too easy to get overwhelmed emotionally and physically, and it’s much easier to just take a nap and hope everything’s better when you wake up. I’m still trying to manage the “do a load a night” thing, myself. Hang in there!!
Amy S.
Congrats on tackling the Laundry Monster. I used to set aside one day to do it all, but like you I find it easier to just do a load every day or every other day.
I must say that my OCD is totally screaming at me to drive to Florida and rearrange your closet in color coordinating, pattern order and refold your towels because clearly my way is the only right way. LOL
It’s all I could think about when I saw that picture. Getting to the point, we all have issues. You despise laundry, I’m a freak who needs to organize things.
courtney
As a working mom (actually a teacher) laundry is also my nemesis. I’m a pretty big neat freak. Okay so I border on obssessive compulsive, but I’ve been know to hide loads of laundry in our large walk-in closet. I’ve also asked the question, “how can 2.5 people make so much laundry?” about a thousand times. Finally, this year I vowed to not wait unti lthe weekend to do the laundry, and it has helped tremendously.
Nikki
I hate laundry! I’m leaving to go out of town on Thanksgiving and I have a huge stack of clothes sitting there waiting to be ironed. If they pile up long enough the Fiance ends up ironing them. I’m a pretty lucky gal since he does most of the laundry!
Alyssa
Ooohhh I hate laundry too. Just think though, this winter no heavy sweaters, no fleece lined jeans that take weeks to dry, no down parkas and comforters. I am jealous of your new warm winter to come.
Amy
Hahaha! I love that someone else shoves laundry into the machine to hide it from guests- finally, I’m not the only one!!
Karen
I totally agree on the laundry issue!! I have no problem washing it, it’s just the getting around to folding it that is the big problem! Am so tired of living out of the laundry basket! I’m going to try the 1 load a day approach, too. Including folding. Hopefully.
Megan (Best of Fates)
Laundry is also my nemesis. Which you would know if you saw my closet.
It’s quite terrifying.
Michelle (mom of Henry 18 months)
Totally feeling you! When I became a SAHM I had no excuse for the piles (but they still existed…) so I had to bite the bullet. I came up with a system: I do laundry on Monday and Thursdays. And that’s it. It piles up until then- and I don’t worry about it. It’s actually really manageable that way- roughly three loads each time. 🙂 Good job on coming up with a strategy!!! 🙂
Brittany
I dont think anyone has any room to judge you about your cleaning habits. I am the same way about dusting. First of all, it’s pointless because about 2 seconds later its all back. Second, as Im dusting I just see it all flying around in my face. So I just boycotted the whole thing. But…good for you for conquering the laundry!! Maybe I can learn from you 🙂
Abby C.
Good for you! I actually don’t mind doing laundry (don’t even mind folding it!) but I HATE putting it away. So generally what happens is I have a lovely folded pile of laundry in my laundry basket, which I then wear until it is no longer folded because I’ve been riffling through it so much, and all the dirty clothes end in a pile on my floor because my laundry basket is full of clean. Shame, shame!