Out of all the housework that there is to do, I actually hate laundry the least. I'm a bit of a freak who likes looking at clean, well sorted laundry hanging on the line, and having things folded in neat piles satisfies me more than I think it should. I also like that usually you can do laundry in one big go, and then you're ok for a while. Letting the dishes pile up for a few days = unsanitary and bad. Leaving the laundry for a week and then doing it all in one go = perfectly acceptable.
The part where my plan falls down, though, is the folding and putting away part. Since Chubs arrived I get less time to do anything, so I do the most urgent parts - washing, hanging out and bringing in, and leave the folding and putting away until later. Later rarely comes though, or when it does three or four more loads of laundry have come with it.
I also hate sifting through an unfolded basket of laundry looking for something you need or worse - sifting though a basket of clean, folded laundry looking for something you need. Since I only really get to fold when Chubs is in bed, then I can't put either Dear Husband and my clothes away (since she's asleep on our bed) or put her clothes and the linen away if she's in her cot (our linen cupboard is in her room).
My new plan is to do all the folding and any ironing (I only iron what has to be ironed - usually only my work clothes) on Sunday nights. There are some TV shows on Sunday night that I like to watch, but feel guilty when I do because I should be doing something else. So the new plan is to let myself enjoy the TV shows and to get the folding done at the same time. Hopefully, this means that I won't feel guilty during the week about not getting the folding done nor about watching TV, and the clothes will all get folded and put away.
The flaw in this plan, which is hopefully overcome-able, is that Chubs will be asleep while all this folding and putting away should be happening, like I said above. Hopefully I can get one room's folding away and I'll do the other room's first thing on Monday.
This is the plan, and I'm really hoping that it will work (which can be seen by the number of times I've said 'hopefully' in this post). The huge pile of folding as pictured above is hopefully the last time that it will be like that.
How do you tame the laundry monster?
I have a love/hate relationship with laundry. If I get it done, it's all good, but every so often it builds up. LOve the peace and quiet of hanging clothes on the line. Even with helpers its rarely too bad. I fold as I bring clothes in. It's easier for me that way. But it all falls down at the putting away stage. Especially if someone helpful pulls all my folded washing off the chairs/table it's sitting on in neat piles. Oh well. One day I'll learn to do it as I go.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I like the hanging out too. That putting away step, it really is the worst.
DeleteI hate laundry at the moment but only because there's constant rain and when I do put it out, it still gets wet. No nice work clothes for me this week.
ReplyDeleteSo over the rain. We got a dryer a few months ago - I don't think we could do cloth nappies in rainy weeks, or baby gastro in rainy weeks - without it. I've got enough nappies that we can hold off for a feww days, but not weeks on end. Even if you hang stuff up under cover it don't dry properly becuase of the humidity. So over the rain, too.
DeleteI'm bad about putting laundry away as well. I'm in the process of making a deal with myself: If I put a new load in the washer, I MUST put away what I just took out of the dryer. Kinda forces me to put away, since there's always something to wash, lol.
ReplyDeleteI sometimes wonder if us "thinking" about doing a chore is actually worse than just doing it... crazy how our minds can work against us!
I totally agree with you about thinking beign wores than doing a lot of the time. Absolutely!
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