I feel like little by little I’m slipping behind on laundry. Yesterday I washed a load of white clothes that are still in the washer. I can’t bear to dry them when I know I’ve still got two loads upstairs that need to be folded and put away. See, laundry is probably the chore I like the least of all household chores. You can’t just do it…you have to wait for it. It’s not hard, it just lasts too long. I get ready to work I gather up dirty clothes and sort them, then I put a load in the washer and I feel like I’m done…but I’m not done. I’ve just started. I leave the area to go and do something worthwhile and eventually return to the area and notice that I don’t hear the washer anymore. I put the clothes in the dryer and feel done again…but I’m only a 4th of the way through this process. I leave again…come back to find the dryer done and that’s when it gets really awful. Up until this point the laundry process has been rather easy. But now, the dry clothes are ready to be folded and put away. I take them upstairs and throw them out on the bed. I sort them according to destination. Kris’ clothes are going to end up on his side of the bed to be put away. Owen’s clothes will end up in Owen’s room etc. White clothes are especially annoying as they are smaller and more of them fit into one load. It takes twice as long to fold white clothes than any other load. There is no comfortable way to fold clothes either. I try sitting on the bed…I’ve tried taking them out in the other room and sitting on the sofa…no matter what there’s bending and reaching that makes my back sore. It’s easiest for me to just stand and do it. I can reach farther and I get it done quicker. Then, even after I’ve done all that…I have to put them away. Now this is the weird part. What is so hard about putting clothes away? I have never been able to figure it out. I don’t like putting things away…not just clothes either. It’s the same way with clean dishes. I don’t like it. I think there must be some issue I haven’t dealt with from childhood that causes me to be this way. I can’t make sense of it. Anyway…eventually I put all the clothes and towels and sheets and bibs where they belong and then I’m done right? No! I’m not done…I’m never done…that’s the point. Laundry is just one of those wonderful chores that never goes away. When I put it aside…it grows…when I do it…it grows. No matter what I do, it’s never done. I guess I’d better get started. The price for not doing it is still greater than the actual chore.
I’m done complaining now.
A few thoughts:
1. Each of child only produces more laundry. With baby number three on the way, I wonder if a second set of machines would be a wise investment. But where would I put them? Currently, we do about 7-9 loads of laundry per week.
2. Putting away is hard for me, too. Why? Thankfully, Grant is getting good at putting away his own laundry. Maybe there is some way I could con him into putting away everyone else’s.
3. The continuous cycle of dirty and clean is why there always seems to be laundry somewhere in our house. Yesterday, I pressed on through and completed every step of the process- sort, wash, fold, put away. By nine at night, I was done. The frustrating thing is taking off the clothes you wore that day and seeing them go into the hamper. Nooooo! Not the nice EMPTY hamper. argghh.
at this point I’m still doing a little less than a load a day. Not too bad. I try to keep it done during the week so I can be free of it for the weekend. It doesn’t always work, but I try.
I used to do 2 to 3 loads after working all day, 3 times a week. Now I am letting Keith do his own, and I won’t have to think about it except Friday night or Saturday. Wow! Liberation! Just think, no laundry in heaven.