Laundry Woes…

(Disclaimer:  If you are in any way OCD or a Type A personality, STOP! DO NOT READ THIS.  This particular passage is not for you.  In fact, just reading this may give you hives.)

Despite my fear and hesitation of “airing my dirty laundry”, I feel I have an obligation to help my fellow moms feel better about themselves. YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

This past week a friend and I had a text conversation that made me think, “I need to share this, I bet other moms feel the same way”.

I don’t know what it is about housework, but every time I think about it, it gives me “flu-like symptoms”.Especially when it comes to the laundry. I immediately get tired, achy and my legs and back start to hurt. Don’t get me wrong, I do clean my house.It is never pristine, but it is “presentable”.The laundry situation…that is another story.

From my years of motherhood, I have had numerous conversations about laundry with other mothers.  I have come to the conclusion that the personality of the mother determines the success of the laundry completion. Whether you stay on top of your laundry of not is not as much about how many kids you have or how active they are, but what type of personality the mother has.  I know women with only 1 child who curse and swear over the laundry and never quite get it done.  I know other moms, with 5 or 6 children, who seem to get everything complete and do not have problem with laundry whatsoever.  Bottom line: Types A’s—on top of it.  Types B’s, like myself—struggle.

For those of you who know and love me, know I struggle with laundry. I don’t think I am alone with this.  However, I do feel my situation often reaches extreme proportions.

Here is the deal,  I know how to do laundry.  It does not take a sophisticated degree or skill set to wash, dry, fold and/or hang laundry.  I simply do not have the mental, emotional or physical discipline to start and complete the task on a regular basis.  Being 47 years old,  I am keenly aware of my strengths and weaknesses.  Laundry is not difficult and I actually don’t mind doing it-on occasion. However, the ever looming, consistent, mundane, never-ending, always multiplying task of my families laundry makes this task a personal weakness.

I don’t want to make excuses, but I do want to give you reasons why I have an abnormal amount of laundry.   I have 4 children, they all wear uniforms to school, play sports, have active social lives and take regular showers. Each of these scenarios require a change of clothing. They can, and do, change clothes 4-5 times a day.  That’s 20 outfits a day and that doesn’t include mine or my husband’s!   Oh, and don’t forget the towels, sheets and pajamas!  I have clothes coming out of my freakin ears!  I have often thought of throwing everything away and starting over with the bare basics.

Yes, I know my kids are old enough to do their own laundry, but I am not organized enough or strict enough to make this happen. So, this is what I have come up with that works.

My kids are responsible for taking their dirty clothes to the laundry room where I will wash and dry them.  They are supposed to grab their clothes every night.  They are to fold, hang and put them in their designated home.  All socks are considered “community socks”-me, my husband and all 4 kids share the same socks.  We have 3 designated baskets, 1 for black socks, one for whites and 1 for my fuzzy sleep socks and their sport socks.   No one matches them, you simply go fishing for the match from the desired basket. 

Over the years I have inadvertently conditioned my family to think this is “normal”.  To give you and example of how conditioned these kids are, I heard my son yell, ”Yes! It’s going to be a good day.  I found a match with the first 2 socks if picked up!”

Maybe my shortcomings are actually creating positive coping skills for my kids?

The “conditioning” works with adults too.  A few weeks ago, I actually washed, dried, folded and put away the laundry for the first time in months. I was so proud of myself and honestly, it was not hard or a big deal. When my husband saw what I had done he smiled and said, “I don’t know how I am going to sleep without 75 pounds of laundry on my legs”.  Ironically, he was right.  Neither one of us could sleep without the weight of the clothes on our legs!  We had to get an extra blanket and place all of the throw pillows on our legs in order to sleep!  PS:  Studies show a weighted blanket makes you sleep better.

In conclusion, there is no one way to do life or laundry.  We are constantly making changes to make things work better.  We are all on our own journey.  We need to support each other.  If airing my dirty laundry makes you feel better about your situation, this public humiliation was worth it. 

MAY YOU HAVE ENOUGH MAGNOLIA MOMENTS TO MAKE YOU HAPPY AND ENOUGH MELTDOWNS TO MAKE YOU HUMBLE—Kimberly