Twice this week I've had to go in search of matching socks for my 2, 3 and 5 year old boys. Today is Wednesday. hmmm. Technically that's only 18 socks. I can easily find 18 socks in the clean laundry basket. In fact, I can find 112 socks in the laundry basket (yes, I counted). The hard part is to find two socks the same.
Why is this hard?
Where have they gone?
Will they come back?
Where is the laundry fairy when I need her?
The laundry room (and the overflow of dirty laundry in my bedroom closet), is my greatest challenge of keeping the house. True, there's a lot of laundry to do. Every day. Miss a day (which I often do) and pay for it for the rest of the week, or maybe the rest of the month. Sometimes it feels like I'm drowning. Possibly the dirty towels will squeeze the life right out of me.
I've had closets larger than my current laundry room. Seriously. In my laundry room I have one washer, one dryer, a medium freezer, shelves above the w/d for storage (winter hats/gloves, summer pool towels, etc), four tall trash cans to sort clothing - two dark, one light and one white, shelves that hold baskets for clean laundry for all children and a 6' bath rod to hang clothes on. And thank goodness I'm not a large person, because there's only about two feet to turn around in the middle. So it seems I'm doing all I can and utilizing my space efficiently.
All ideas and suggestions are welcomed.
I still hate going into the laundry room. I've tried to re-adjust my thinking. If I'm in doing laundry, then the kids won't find me. I could hide in there for days, right?
Wait! What's that I see outside? By the trampoline? Is it a bird, a plane? Well I'll be darned! It's another dozen socks!
Maybe they will be a match for some of the 112 in the basket.
where DO those socks go? we have his hers and ours too. we only have 6 at home right now and two all grown. but in the process of bringing home 3 little girls and possibly one little boy from Ukraine.
ReplyDeleteHi PJ! I just joined "I'm a Mega Family Blogger" and found you on there. I became a follower of your blog because your writing style (and sense of humor) are so close to my own, I feel I can relate to you. I look forward to getting to know you!
ReplyDeleteI do have a suggestion about your laundry. I have 10 children (the oldest is gone; married with 2 children, the remaining 9 are at home). My oldest at home, Stephanie and I tried to keep all the laundry caught up with an occasional helper (whoever was unlucky enough to be near when a load came out of the dryer). For years I struggled with keeping up. But then I had an idea; assign an older child with a younger child/children on specific days. I held my breath...And it worked! We've been doing laundry this way for several months now and it no longer feels like a burden to anyone.
Here's our system. Tues: Stephanie (age 21) does her laundry and the two older boy's (9 and 6). Wed: I do my laundry, along with my hubby's and the baby's (7 mo). Thurs: Emily (almost 18), Corrie Beth (10), and Destiny (5) do their laundry together. Fri: Haley (14) and MacKenzie (12) do theirs. No one is assigned Mon. (shopping/music lesson day), Sat. (usually have plans), or Sun. (our day to rest), so if someone gets behind, they can do a load or two on any of the "free" days. I wash the baby's cloth diapers every other day, usually at night.
Since the children are doing their own clothes, they are more apt to check for stains and get them out of the dryer before the wrinkles set in.
We have 4 different hampers and each group has their own.
I hope this helps give you some ideas.
But um, sorry; I can't help with the sock thing, as I've threatened to throw away those unmates more than once (Stephanie reminds me, "Their mates HAVE to be here somewhere!"
Moondog- good luck with bringing the new kids home! That is so exciting! Our adoptions have been through the US foster care system. I can only imagine that the process for international is lengthy and with a lot more paperwork. Bless you for sharing your love!
ReplyDeleteTreasures From A Shoebox- Thank you so much for your ideas. Recently my 12 yo Kelsee has been assisting her younger sisters with their own laundry. This helps a lot - but they don't always finish the job. Often their laundry is left in the dryer. But I still see it as an improvement to me doing all of it for the younger kids. My teen boys, Nik 16 and Niyal 14, do their own laundry about half the time. Or when they decide they want to wear something that is in the dirty pile! Hmmm. Maybe I should just leave their dirties until they go looking for it! lol
ReplyDeleteIf you find those matching socks, let me know!
Thanks!