Laundry

No one wants to talk about this, I know.........but, it's a part of life and if we don't want to walk around smelling, then it's a must. I think this is one of the biggest problems for most large families, the piles just grow and there never seems to be an end to the laundry pile. I swear, we have a laundry monster and he comes in at night and makes the piles bigger. I just wish there was a laundry fairy to come in and clean up the mess. Oh yeah, that's right, we do! It's me!

The one thing I learned with a family of 9 is you HAVE to do laundry every day. Even if you skip just one day, you are in trouble. Especially if your closet is a bit limited and it seems to be, the less clothes you have, the more laundry there is.....Why is that you ask? Well, because no sooner does someone wear something and it's right in the pile, there's not much reserve so you have to get what you DO have clean and as soon as possible.

I do between two and four loads of laundry a day, I strive for 4 by 4pm if I'm lucky. Then there's one big laundry day on Monday which sets everyone ready for the week. Sunday's I make sure that the school uniforms are done as we only have a few uniforms per child. I used to think I'd be a fan of uni's, but I'm not. You have to buy play clothes AND uniforms....personally, if the school requires them then they should have to buy them. Some voucher to spend at a store of your choice, kinda like how WIC works. In this economy we're lucky if we have the money to buy underwear for our kids let alone uniforms.

Okay, I'm off my soap box about that.

Socks......we have one big sock basket. Everyone gets colored socks. I hate how dingy white socks get, even when you use bleach and everyone's underwear are colored, so it only makes sense to be able to wash all the socks with the other laundry. Besides, I don't have time to be adding a sock load to my ever growing pile of laundry.

Wednesday's and Friday's are towel days and I do the kids bedsheets and mine every other Friday.

I was asked by Gitty today how we get all the stains out of the clothes. I told her it was magic! But really, it's all in the detergent. I know buying cheap is the thing right now and for most of us a necessity, but unfortunately, there's some places this girl can't scrimp and laundry detergent is one of them. I only use Tide, Whisk or All. It depends which one is on sale and for how much in comparison to the others and if it's beneficial if I have a coupon (which I rarely do). With those detergents and the right water cycle, I've only ever had to pre-treat formula stains and only very lightly.

The laundry is done, washed, dried and folded, socks thrown into the sock basket for everyone to dig through for a match.....I guess this is why everyone usually has mismatched socks on, but eh, it's the fad anyway. But who puts it all away. NOT ME! That's up to who ever the clothes belong to. I put my own and Hubs away, but not the kids. The little kids get help from the older kids and I put the babies clothes away. As soon as they can follow directions, they'll learn how to put their own clothes away too!

Oh and don't forget, every Friday the bathroom carpets get done too! Did I mention, I really, really hate laundry! And dishes too!

Until next time.....
Becca