When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. Isaiah 43:2



Wednesday, February 25, 2009

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. :)

5 comments:

Sarah B. said...

Laundry is my 2nd least favorite house chore. Dishes at our house are by far the worse! And you are lucky, my husband won't touch the laundry. And I wuldn't want him to. LOL

I am a lot like Scott. I make piles of similar colors and fabrics. Delicates and lingerie get washed with Woolite. Whites get bleached with hot water, lights get warm water, jeans/darks get cold water...as do reds. (We do a lot of reds/pinks in my huse with all the girls).

I know it's a pain to separate it all out, but each room has a laundry bin. So you take out what works with the rest of the stuff. Then buy those tiny laundry baskets at Walmart and color code them for each person/room. When stuff is clean and folded, put it in that person's room and if they are capable they put it away...if not you can put it away time permitting, but at least it's out of the way. Sorry for the rambling.

Despite all my plans and ideas, I constantly have random laundry all over the house. Almost as if it walks away from the piles...

Janelle said...

I try and do a load a day (washed, dried, and put away). But that doesn't always happen.

Yesterday I got on flylady.com and "really" read through the ideas she has. You told me about that website well over a year ago, maybe two years ago. Anyway, she recommends putting a load of laundry in as soon as you get up and dressed. I am going to try and do that because then my one load is done before noon and I can move on to more important things.

But, if you are ever feeling overwhelmed with it, call me and I'll come over and get it all done... I can do it at your house and we can hang out or I can take it home with me and return it the next day... seriously! My mom did that for me about a month ago and it made a world of difference.

Mandee said...

I say give it back to the husband.

HAPPYHANERHOME said...

Thanks for the comments ladies. It has gotten better this week and Janelle, I reviewed Fly Lady's ideas as well. Very inspirational and doable. Youa re craaaazy if you think I would ever let you see my laundry piles!!!

Sarah--you are too much girl. I am just not that into laundry.

Mandee, were you always this funny and I didn't know? I couldn't live without the laughs I get from your blog (only a slight exaggeration.)

Dani said...

why change? you probably won't have any funny and cute laundry stories to blog about then.