The Great Laundry Conundrum

Are you a do all the laundry in one day kind of person or one load per day kind of person? Over the years I’ve struggled with the laundry. Should I just get it all over with in one day? Should I just do a little bit at a time and perpetually be doing laundry?

I have settled into the decision that I am a do one load of laundry a day kind of person. When I was working, my schedule was never the same from week to week. Add in going to school and making last minute plans with friends and laundry day would never be a day I could count on actually having my laundry cleaned. After having my daughter, forget it, babies somehow create more laundry in two days than my husband and I do in a week.

Doing laundry every day also allows everyone to have clean clothes. It is expected that at some point the washer and dryer will be used in the course of a day and with that laundry requests can be made. Now, I’m not saying that I am going to drop everything to wash somebody’s favorite shirt or that I am at everyone’s beck and call. I’m just saying that because the laundry does get done everyday then the underwear drawer is never empty.

This was not always the case. Yes, there have been times that the underwear drawer has been empty, but mostly because it just hadn’t made it’s way out of the dryer yet. Did I mention laundry has been a struggle for me? Not so much anymore. I have finally found the rhythm to make it work.

I realized this in a conversation with a friend tonight. Somehow we ended up on this subject and she was talking about how she always forgets to put the laundry from the washer to the dryer. I used to always forget. We chuckled about how frustrating it was to come back to have to rewash the load and even then it still didn’t make it to the dryer. Then she asked me “what do you do?”

I told her that usually I put the laundry in the wash in the morning and sometime during the day it would find it’s way to the dryer. That it wouldn’t be too long where it would need a rewash. Upon further reflection, I realized that my rhythm is pretty simple. Basically, after every meal you move the laundry to the next step.

After breakfast I put a load in the washer. After lunch I move it to the dryer. After dinner I move it to a basket. Usually there is a point in time where it gets folded. Sometimes not. Seriously, if there was a “worst chore” list, folding laundry would be my number one. But eventually it gets done: maybe when we are all sitting down watching TV, or maybe I’ll fold while talking to the hubby about the day when the kids are in bed. Once it’s folded, I’m pretty good about getting it to the proper rooms and into the proper drawers.

In this season of life, the laundry trouble is minimal. For now, doing a load of laundry a day is what works for me. Now, when is it that my children can fold and put away their own laundry….?

How is this chore/task done in your house?

P.S. I have learned to hang my laundry on the line during the warmer months, and I take delight in it!

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