Laundry anyone?

Ok, so when Scott and I got married and until about a year ago, he did all the laundry. I was so blessed. But with me staying home and the mounting piles of laundry created by our three little blessings (they are really dirty blessings--hee hee), I decided to "take over." It was not a pretty take over. There was hostility from both parties. My way was different, not as efficient...and let's face it, I just didn't do it as often as I should have. So it began to pile up beyond any height I could have imagined soft fabrics achieving without toppling to their demise. Scott would do a random load here and there making me frustrated when I would open the washer. So I would just leave it in there until he took care of it before starting another load. You get the sad, ugly picture.

I tried to make it fun for myself~new laundry detergent, a cute little Downy ball, colorful laundry baskets, rearranged closets, but I now face the cold hard truth of it. Laundry is really not very fun. So I have learned that this is one of those jobs in life that you do because you have to, not because it makes you smile.

Lately, I have had kind of an interesting dilemma with my laundry duty: how many clothes to shove into our little overstressed washer. My husband's loads were always balanced, perfectly color coordinated, and mid-sized. If asked what load he was doing, he could honestly state, "whites," because that's all that was in there. My loads have been called many things, "Mismash," "haphazard," "hodgepodge," "unsure." Sometimes my answer regarding what load I've done is, "the stuff on the floor near the garage door!" Apparently, this is not the way laundry should be done.

It's because I don't want like four things left in a basket! Come on, if all THAT can fit in there, surely a few more things won't matter. And I'll have the lovely satisfaction of an EMPTY basket. But is it better to have fewer clothes and more water in the washer? I don't know, maybe there will be more friction if I cram some more pieces in there--surely an extra five socks (because an even number would just be silly) won't matter!

I've only turned one load a funny color--it all came out a pleasant shade of mint green--who knew a woven green bath rug shouldn't be washed with the whites? It was bathroom day, so I washed everything in the bathroom--together. This included kids' clothes from bath the night before, towels that had been on the towel rack for God knows how long, hoodie towels that were long past their prime and some hand towels. It all matches perfectly now! :)

Anyway, any laundry advice is welcome and I can definitely say that I am learning to appreciate my husband even more for his five years of thankless PERFECT laundry service. :)