I love to experience clean laundry. . . warm, soft, freshly-scented cotton folded and stacked in lovely piles. I enjoy separating my children’s and my husbands better attire and carefully hanging it up to dry, knowing this helps alleviate the wear caused by the dryer. I relish the aroma of gently scented soaps mingled with softeners and the clean bouquet of bleach.
On the flip side, I despise dirty laundry. I am saddened by piles of damp, malodorous clothes and linens. This could be a constant cause of discontent in my life as 11 people can produce a large, ugly hill of soiled laundry. However, it is not a problem in my house the majority of the time.
My technique is this: instead of waiting for a specified wash day, my LG’s are working away almost every hour of the day. The movement of water in that stainles-steel tub and the purring of that large, lovely dryer can usually be detected in our home.
One of the first items on my list in the morning is to initiate a load of laundry. Throughout the day, we all continue to move the process of fabric-care along. Washing, drying, folding and suspending some of the clean products from hangers – this is the rhythm of the laundry room and everyone participates. (Our daughters are the heroines in this laundry epic, they are always contributing to the laundry attack. Our sons are either knights in shining armor or villains to be slayed, depending upon their helpfulness factor!) It’s punctuated by the continual movement of fresh linens, towels, and clothing to their proper places in our house.
This daily laundry ritual is a key factor to my overall sanity. I could not face 5-7 days of laundry generated by 11 people on a regular basis. I have taken this project on after camping trips so I am well aware of the ugly reality it produces. I’d rather face continual, manageable laundry issues throughout the day. I can rest easy knowing that at some point my laundry basket will be empty, albeit for only a moment, during any 24-hour period. In the meantime, I will continue to bask in the fluffy, warm loveliness of clean towels.
This is what works for me. You can peruse great tips at Rocks in My Dryer’s Works For Me Wednesday.
“We should all do what, in the long run, gives us joy, even if it is only picking grapes or sorting the laundry.” – E. B. White
Thanks for your comment on my blog!
I do all the laundry for our family on Mondays – but I’m sure I would adopt your system if our family ever grew from 4 to 11!
Laundry is a hard one for me. I think your routine of getting it in first thing in the morning would sure help. I went to an every day model of laundry a while ago, and it sure does streamline things. I can’t imagine trying to do all our laundry on one day, and there are only five of us. I know if the Lord ever allows us to hit the eleven mark, I’m going to have to get a lot better organized about my laundry habits!
You sound like my mother!! She “centers herself” by starting a load of laundry everyday. How is it that I only do 3 loads once a week.. of my laundry (with hubby and baby) and the kids do their own? I guess it’s because I like the big job of tackling the pile once a week. Different strokes.. Anyway, I do like the washer!! That is so cool.
I like laundry everyday too. We have a canvas double hamper in the laundry room and when one side is full, it’s time to sort and start a load in the morning. My “nest” is getting smaller, so there are times when I can skip a day, but I function much better knowing there is not a huge mountain of laundry waiting around the corner. That is overwhelming to me. I also have a sensitive nose and can tell when things are getting, well, not so fresh, way before the rest of my family can, so I love to get those sweaty basketball clothes and muddy gardening jeans into the wash rather than letting them hang around too long! I even like ironing, especially with scented linen water and a good Jane Austen movie, but I guess that’s a whole other subject.
Karen,
Your laundry, particularly the ironing, sounds therapeutic!
Mmmm.. I LOVE fresh, warm laundry right out of the dryer!
I just saw this post, but wanted to reply. I only have laundry for seven people, but God has taught me to view that laundry as a blessing. I am reminded of the bible verse, “Without the ox the stall is clean, but much increase comes from the strength of an ox.” Every dirty shirt is reminder that God has granted me another week on earth serving and learning from the one who wore that shirt. That said, I installed a lifesaving plan a few years ago. Once a child reaches ten years of age, he or she must wash, dry and put away his or her own clothing. I will still reap the blessed reminders of their place in our house by doing their bedding and towels on the appointed days, but they must each take responisbility for their own clothing. Each child has a scheduled time of the day and day of the week in which that chore must be accomplished. I am not a merciless dictator; I accept good excuses like the time the basement flooded and the non-stop towel loads pushed others out of the laundry room for days.
I have seen my children mature and take responsibility for their own needs by allowing them this responsibility, though. I confess this has also been a great relief for me; I am free to finally attack that mending basket! Now I can focus on patching jeans while I thank God for the child who tore the hole in those pants!
Sharon
Thanks for your lovely, encouraging comment!:-) It sounds like your family has a wonderful system in place. I just love watching the laundry go from dirty to clean. By the way, the “official” Bona Vita has moved to this new address: http://www.bonavitablog.com. We look forward to seeing you over there!