Laundry, Laundry Everywhere

I used to have a major issue keeping up with the laundry in my life.  See, when I was single, I think I had about one load per week...maybe two!  Then my husband moved in (yes, he was my husband before he moved in).  That man has more clothes than any person should be allowed to have!  

Well, I got pregnant pretty soon after we were married, and never quite adjusted to the extra items to wash on a regular basis due to working full time and not having any energy left over to devote to keeping up the laundry.  

Then came baby!  Whew, that's a lot of little tiny stuff to wash!  I was kind of hit and miss with baby's stuff, I would wash it, but then pull his stuff out of the dryer or the basket in the corner of the room.  Eventually, I got into the swing of things and would diligently wash, dry, fold and put away his clothes.  That made life so much easier.  Anyone who has had a baby knows just how aggravating it can be to locate two matching itty-bitty socks mixed into a pile of other similarly colored itty-bitty items!  I can think of so many things I'd rather do. 

Well, fast forward a couple of years, and along came baby number two.  I still wasn't really "in tune" with our soiled clothing to the point of it being second nature to wash, dry, fold and put away in one fell swoop.  So, new baby, with all her extra laundry (from all the spitting up- see here for more on that)  was certainly a motivating factor for me to finally get it together. 

Actually more recently, it's been easier for me to keep up with it.  I've started making a daily list of chores to do, and what laundry to do when.  I also came across Fly Lady's amazing site in recent months and that has been a big help too.  Her mantra concerning laundry?  "A load a day keeps the CHAOS away"!  How true that is!  

For me, it's really been a change in attitude or perspective.  I've always been big about procrastination, and I think it's just a dread thing for me when I think about laundry or some other chore that needs to be done.  I build it up in my mind as something terrible and time consuming, but it's so so simple when I get down to actually doing it (a little everyday).  It's really rewarding to look into a drawer and see clean clothing neatly put away, ready for my family to wear as needed. 

Now I'm certainly not perfect about it yet, but I'm really much happier about my approach to laundering our family's clothing and towels and bedding...I like having clean items on hand and knowing where to find it quickly without having to dig for it!  It may not seem like that big of a deal, but it really is a huge step to achieving more order in your day and ultimately your life.  Don't let the chaos that is your hamper control your life any longer!  You'll be so glad when you finally realize that it's not as overwhelming as it appears to be to get a handle on it!