For Moms

How to Tackle the Never Ending Laundry Pile

Laundry is going to be the death of me.

Okay, so that might be a little bit dramatic, and very much a first world problem.

But, I know some of you other moms can relate with me on this! I hope I’m not alone in this!

My family lives from the laundry basket!

We do the laundry. As in, we wash the clothes. But getting it put away? That’s another story.

Sometimes, it doesn’t get put away. We simply pick our clothes out of the pile each day deciding last minute if we have time to iron it.

If not, it just goes back in the pile and we pick something else out.

The pile is so BIG, so overwhelming. The thought of spending an entire hour folding clothes is enough to make us leave it for another day.

Here’s the other problem.

Once you do the laundry, there is always more to be done. It is NEVER. ENDING. Why put away all the clothes when there will just be a new pile to put away the next day? Ahh!

Please Lord, encourage my husband to do the laundry today.

I pray this prayer a lot, and I know he prays it about me too.

When one of us finally does fold the laundry it’s like we deserve some kind of award or something.

I folded the laundry today! What a great accomplishment. Oh, wait, there’s another load to be done now.

I will soon be a stay at home mom and I know the laundry duty will be on me.

So, I decided I need to have a plan with laundry that will actually work for me! Here’s are my goals.

Let me just note here that I am very much of a Type B personality. I know you Type A people are laughing at me that I am not already doing this but hey, I’m trying my best!

Wash Less

We wash SO. MANY. CLOTHES.

Pajamas? Put them in the wash. Towels? Wash them. Got a little dirt on your shirt? Take it off and wash it. Played outside today?

Change your clothes for nap time and again when you wake up. Clothes on the floor for no reason? Put them in too.

No longer. My new plan here is to wash less.

If my daughter wore something for half a day and it isn’t filthy? It’s going back in the drawer.

If she tries on three outfits in the morning I will use it as an opportunity to teach her how to fold them and put them back in the drawer. My kids will wear the same pajamas more than once unless they get dirty. I am determined to WASH LESS.

Going along with this idea, I also want to have less. I love the idea of a capsule wardrobe which you can read more about over at Pinch of Yum.

Wash More Often

My next goal is to wash clothes more often.

Instead of doing a huge load every week, I plan to do a small load every day or every other day.

I know you may be thinking, what a waste of water! But, we probably have enough laundry to do a small load each day using less water in each load.

This way I will have a smaller load to fold and put away. My hope is that with smaller loads, it won’t be as intimidating and I can fold it and put it away in a timely manner.

Which brings me to my next goal.

Fold and Put Away Immediately

My next goal is to fold and put away the clothes right as they get done in the dryer.

Not only will this prevent the clothes from getting wrinkled but I won’t have to worry about setting aside an hour or more to fold clothes. I also won’t have to worry about growing piles of clothes laying around the house.

Change My Mindset

I know I will never truly enjoy doing laundry, but I also know I need to change my mindset. Instead of dreading laundry and putting it off as long as possible, I am looking at it as a challenge to get done quickly. If I keep with my schedule, it shouldn’t be as dreadful.

    

About The Author

I'm married to a wonderful man who also happens to be an exceptional daddy. I am a mama to two precious babies. I decided to become a stay-at-home mom a few years ago after years of teaching.

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