Keeping up with Laundry, not the Joneses

I was wondering what I was going to type this week. I guess we'll discuss laundry. Ah, my favorite past time of all times! Who doesn't love doing laundry? Hmmmm?

Actually, it isn't all that bad when you keep up with it. I rather enjoy folding laundry. I like the smell of clean clothes and I like looking down into an empty basket knowing the day's laundry has been completed. The one thing I don't enjoy doing is putting clothes away. This is something my kids do for me. Each child, with the exception of the the short ones, put their own laundry away. I wash, fold and they put it away.

The key to keeping the clothes manageable is doing them every day if you are a large family, and folding it at a specific time during the day or folding it as soon as it dries. I've tried both. For some reason I can't keep to my scheduled "folding time" which is in the afternoon. I might have to schedule this in the morning...we'll see. Since schools been out, I've been washing and folding as I go and then having the children put their clothes away. So far it's been working great....no more baskets of clean unfolded laundry or baskets of dirty, stinky laundry.

To manage, I usually do about 2-3 baskets of laundry daily. If I don't wash clothes for a few days....I regret it later. If I can wash on a daily basis it doesn't become an untamed mountain of clothes. So I've decided to treat laundry management like my kitchen cleanup. After every meal, we wash dishes, wipe counters, sweep floors, etc... If I tackle laundry like a chore that MUST be done every single day then I guess it seems more manageable. I guess, I've always viewed laundry as one of those chores that when it's overflowing then I do it. I found I treat some of my household chores like I still have four people in our family. I don't know why, it's really strange. I do this with time management as well. Alright, alright....I am learning. Slap! I know I have eight kids, not two. Wake up Chris...HELLO!

So, I finally got it!! Beeeee Con-sis-tent! Aha!! Not hard. Ok, we'll see what happens after this holiday weekend. He, he!!!

(laundry room--before)

(Laundry room--before...my Goodwill pile was in the upper lft corner bags and boxes of stuff!)

(laundry room--after....ahhhh, no more dirty clothes, floor swept...it still needs more order... that will soon come to pass...for now this will do)

(laundry room--after...notice my Goodwill corner...I am down to one small bag that needs to be filled and sent away to Goodwill..need to find a place for the baby tub. I do use it...just don't like it in my bathroom)

Chris

Home Improvement--highly needed!!!

Yes, I am starting a new blog!! A blog devoted to home management. Actually, a journal of my journeys of home management-- The "ins and outs" of the "nitty-gritty" of putting my house in order while raising my eight children. BEWARE: The following pictures are of my house in "messy" status...this is what it looks like after having a busy week and neglecting our ChorePacks.

( Before: School books all over the desk, after this weeks evaluations)

(After: My oldest son cleaned up the school room--yeah, for teenagers)

(my unorganized laundry room with lots of baskets of dirty laundry)

(dishes to wash)

(my neglected bedroom with dirty clothes to be washed and carpet to be steam cleaned)

(toys that need to be sorted and gotta get rid of some)

(my front closet that needs some order)

I must confess, the one thing that has been highly neglected (at least just maintained), while having bunches of babies, has been my home (better the home, than the children...LOL). Throughout my childbearing years, I've had to "let loose" on many house goals and on how clean I want my house. Most of it has been from not having much time, not having much energy (mental and physical), and not being a "natural born" housekeeper. Yes, the children do help, all the time, but a child's sense of what is "clean" is not as crisp as an adult's. Also the more children you have (especially many little people at once), the more taxing on the house it can be. To name a few: Toys--EVERYWHERE; handprints and footprints on the walls, hot wheel marks on the my new coffee table; crumbs on the floor (good thing for my dog), oatmeal stuck on the blinds; food in their clothes drawers---ewww; nasty, rotten sippy cups under the couch; pee pee underwear in their drawer--not knowing my 3yr old messed in his pants and changed and decided to put his dirty undies back in his drawer with clean clothes---then me and the rest of the children trying to figure out where the stink is coming from, oh yeah...a big ewww; and yes the list can go on and on and on.... I hope I am not the only one with a messy children--LOL

Now that my "dirty laundry" has been exposed, I hope you will join me on this journey (long, short, or never ending...LOL) of putting my home in order. I am looking forward to sharing what I am learning along the way. I would love it if you could help me by giving your input. Leave your comments or email me with some organizational, cleaning, or house keeping tips. Anything is helpful, because I am not a "natural born" tidy person. LOL...

Sooooooo....... till then....

Chris

P.S. If you want to catch up on my family life and other things on my mind...continue to visit my other blog Joyful Mother.