Sunday, November 2, 2008

Airing My Dirty Laundry

The other day, Luke took a look at the overflowing laundry basket and asked Sam why I never do laundry. Sam told Luke it was a great question and of couse, shared it with me. I promptly cornered Luke and told him to do me a solid and not ask dad those kinds of questions.

I have three baskets of clean unfolded laundry in my hall right now. They've been there all week folks. Now I'm doing laundry again and I still haven't folded and put away the laundry from last week. Granted, it was Halloween and there was a lot going on. But this happens every week. Each morning, Sam says "go fish" and reaches into one of the baskets to find a clean pair of, er, socks.


The truth is, I'm never on top of the laundry. I hate that you do load after load and even as I'm running the machine, new dirty laundry is finding it's way into the hamper. It doesn't help that I am very anal when it comes to washing and drying. Nothing navy, black or red or anything that I care about really, will ever go in the dryer. That means I have this bad boy in my bedroom just about full time. I don't even see it anymore.

This is really a cry for help. Does anyone enjoy laundry? What are your tricks for not having it take over your life? I prefer to do it all on one day because otherwise I feel like you have to dig through the hamper every day to put together a load of darks, colds, whites, etc. Help!

14 comments:

sheryl said...

Oh the days! This too shall pass. I remember when the twins were babies, folks that means 5 kids six and under. Anyway...the laundry was in the basement. My secret...chocolate in the freezer also in the basement. A good piece of chocolate for a load. It worked...however it did pile up! One time stan could not find me. Called and look outside etc... finally found me asleep on a pile of laundry in the basement. Also...try the dryer for 10 min timed...take out the clothes still damp but not enough to fade. put them on the hanger they will stay on and hang them in the closet they go in...if closets are opened they will be dry by the end of the day.

sheryl said...

ps one day I will learn to edit before I publish. My homework I do on line lets me edit after I click publish. oh well....

Alan and Abby said...

Brooke,
I love your blog. You are soooo real and make me laugh. I am excited to keep reading. Thanks for the entertainment. You remind me of me! Can we be best blogger friends?

Jacqui said...

Bosch. It's the Answer. I used to have the same rack in my bedroom constantly and then I got my Bosch washer and dryer. Loads are bigger, fewer batches, and the dryer has so many wondeful settings, nothing could ever shrink or fade. I swear there's even a "Gentle Spring Breeze" setting on the dryer.

Ashley said...

Laundry never ends. My drying rack is a fixture in my kitchen and about once a week I have jeans and shirts hanging all over my front room. To me it's the act of hanging the wet laundry that is brutal. I bought some jeans at JCrew Saturday and the guy there told me to wash them on cold with a capful of white vinegar to set the dye. He then recommended drying them to bring them back to size when they sag out. (I hope they are tight enough but are they ever?) I perished the thought of throwing new jeans in the dryer, but then thought perhaps I could restore a few old pairs by making them dryer jeans--shrinking them and speeding up laundry time. Anyway, laundry never ends. I do like folding it after the kids go to bed and I can do it while watching some good show.

Sam said...

In response to his question, I told Luke that mom was too busy with the blog to do laundry and that wearing dirty clothes was a small price to pay for a good post.

gwen said...

You crack me up! Just this morning, Livi came in to our room and asked, "Mom, are there clothes in my closet today, or are they still on the guest bed?" The girl is all to aware of my lack of folding! I do all my laundry the same day too. It usually takes me 3-4 days to get it all put away...just in time to start the cycle all over again! If they do end up on the guest bed for days, I figure, at least they're clean. I could be sending my kids around in dirty clothes...that would be WAY worse (and pretty much unacceptable!)

Amy said...

Wish I had an answer for ya. I feel like I'm always knee deep in it. I always have good intentions to get it all done on "laundry day" but I never do.
I'm with you on the hanging things dry. I hang everything except socks, pj's and undies. I have two huge hanging racks that are always full of clothes. As Landon says "this is just one of the crosses you have to bare"-what a butt!

Amy M. said...

Love this post. You are so funny. Your husband's comments are always great too.
I am never on top of putting the blasted laundry away. I can get it clean, no problem, but then I have piles everywhere to put away. Just yesterday I said to Micah, "If only I had some laundry to put away..."
I like your drying rack. It holds more than mine.

Marni Bown said...

You and my girlfriend seriously need to talk. She has a formula of laundry detergent/color/water temp ration for every color. So funny.

Linda said...

I got the folding done - like Ashley - in front of the TV - I didn't feel guilty about sitting down and watching if I was folding. It was the ironing. . .remember the ironing closet?? Your dad used to say that was the scariest place in our house because once something got into the ironing closet, you never saw it again!

Ashley said...

I won't buy anything else for me that needs to be ironed. That's why I wear cardi's. As for Tyler's shirts, I like Seinfeld's method: Drop them off at Goodwill, wait a week, then go re-buy them washed and ironed for fifty cents.

brooke said...

Don't get me started on ironing.

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