Saturday, October 10, 2009

More on the Subject of Laundry

I am really sorry to be so obsessed with laundry these days but I think laundry is trying to kill me. A slow, suffocating, smelly death.

It isn't so much the washing and the drying that I don't like. It is the putting it away that I find so hard. Impossible really. And oh how I love pulling clean items out of appropriate drawers but it just seems so futile and never ending and I've never been good with futile and never ending.

My back-of-the-couch system has served me well for many years and then I got all hoity toity and bought those blasted baskets and instead of putting laundry away quickly and efficiently we're just becoming more annoyed because inevitably what we need is on the bottom. And there is nothing worse than finding a clean pair of undies on the very bottom of the laundry basket and then scraping the back of your hand on the basket all the way down and all the way up because you're trying to not do disturb the folded piles. Has it really come to this?

I have the perfect solution: everyone put their own laundry away. Only problem: my kids are 1 and 3 and Hot Jeff hates putting laundry away almost as much as I do and I can't really nag him about it because I don't like unloading the dishwasher and he always does that job for me. You see my problem here?

It dawned on me the other day that my house would be tidier and I would be happier if I was more organized and had better systems in place. So I need you to give me your best laundry system. And don't tell me to get a laundry sherpa because I already tried that. I called all over Nepal trying to find a laundry sherpa but apparently they are so busy being sherpas they don't really need to market themselves as laundry sherpas. They were also quite put out that I would even try to hire someone to be a laundry sherpa, called me a typical ugly American and hung up on me. Sherpas can be so testy. I didn't think the idea was unreasonable at all. If you're willing to carry my load of crap up a mountain then why not carry my laundry up my stairs? Actually I think the idea is rather genius and I'm thinking of sneaking a bunch of Nepalis over here for the sole purpose of becoming laundry sherpas for lazy housewives like myself. If you're interested shoot me an email and I'll get you on a waiting list.

Well that last idea was just so brilliant I'm going to end on it. And I'm serious about giving me your best ideas for a laundry system. I'm also serious about wearing disposable clothing and just drinking margaritas all day so keep that in mind too.

8 comments:

Christy said...

I have discovered that I cannot make homemade dinner, put away laundry and clean house all in one day. So, some days we have home cooked dinner, other days the laundry is put away and still other days we just have a clean house....but only 1 floor at a time because it is nearly impossible to have both the upstairs and the downstairs clean at the same time.
Reagan is 6 and she can put away her own clothes. Tim folds the clothes on the weekends while he watches football. And then I try as I might to put them away.

Good luck and let me know if anyone actually has some good advice...beside put it away right away when its warm!

Oh and I will take 1 laundry sherpa, and 1 nanny sherpa...you know to carry the kids when they are tired....hey I have a bad back.

Laurie said...

Please order me 1 laundry sherpa, ASAP, because ever since my 2 daughter sherpas got married and had kids, they, for some reason, do not want to fold mine anymore, not to mention that 1 of them lives in Minneapolis. Getting a new, stackable washer and dryer set helps, but, alas, they do not fold. I hate folding, but I always feel so good when it is done and put away. Sigh.

Amber said...

Ooohhh...I needs me a sherpa.

Um...I would give you my best laundry advice, but I don't have one. Because we're laundry basket people, too. I have 5. All vomiting clean clothes.

Jen said...

I'm a laundry basket girl, and I do make the kids put away their own - but it is not perfected. I had Jeff make me a laundry room counter so the pile is downstairs - out of site! :)

One tip - you might already be doing this - sort the clothes into who they belong to as you throw them in the baskets. No folding, just sorting and tossing. That way, when you have to dig for something, you at least know which basket to choose from.

Seriously, Abby often gets dressed from her basket in the basement instead of her dresser.

Anonymous said...

Laundry is a curse... I firmly believe it. I've cussed at Eve many times because her and Adam messed this whole thing up and clothes were born out of it...

We use the each person has a basket gig too... And I only have one floor to schlep it around on and it still never makes it to it's destination.

I know how much you love to blog, maybe tell yourself, it has to get put away before you can blog. No forget that we'd never hear from you again.. lol I'll be praying for ya, how's that!

Love ya,
Dee

Marya said...

I have a 2 fold approach to laundry.
1. Everyone is assigned a laundry day. Small loads throughout the week prevent me from having a laundry meltdown.

2. I refuse to fold laundry unless its underwear, night pants, and socks. Everything else gets put in a hanger. I carry everything directly from the dryer to my bed. I lay it out and start putting everything on hangers. I use pants hangers with clips so I don't have to fold pants. For little kid clothes, I take the clips off the adult hangers and put them on the little hangers so I can clip shorts, jumpers, and what nots on the hangers. Like I said, I refuse to fold. It's a waste of time and generally requires me to iron whatever has been folded b/c a litle kid will have balled it up in a drawer and wants to wear it out that day. So...instead of reading my son and daughter the riot act, I hang!!
Good luck and I hope you're able to find a system that works best for you and your family.

Peggy said...

Oh, laundry is a never-ending battle here too! And, I too detest the putting away the most...ugh!
That being said, I do have a few things that (kind of) help:
I do separate loads for our stuff and the kids (each kid usually gets their own load, but sometimes I combine). I bring the laundry up in the baskets that go to that room & put away in that room. Everyone but Avalee helps me put it away after it's folded. I actually sit on Zavion's bed & fold into piles (pajamas, underwear, pants, etc) and he puts them in the corresponding drawers.
Colin & I sort & out away while we're watching TV, after the kids are in bed.
If nobody helps, I tell them they can't complain that they have no socks for work or shirts to go to McDonalds. ;0)
Good luck!

Anonymous said...

I too have had this problem, so a couple of months ago I started a new system that I am really making a habit of. I only do laundry 1-2 times a week. It seems that saturdays or sundays work best. I start in the morning, one after the other, all of our clothes go on hangers except for pjs socks and undies. As soon as the clothes come out of the dryer I lay them all flat and have a stack for each bedroom. Then at the end of the night I go grab hangers, slip them into the clothes and grab the pile and hang them up. then stack pjs, socks and underwear according to room and make my rounds to the drawers. wala done for the next 5 days. Even if there is laundry to be done. I don't do it. that way it doesn't feel like a never ending daily monotonous task.