Comments on: Practicing a new goal

By: Jen

Jen — Tue, 21 Nov 2023 19:40:26 +0000

I am firmly in the laundry once a week and only on weekends with rare exceptions. I have sheets and towels on rotating weeks. We have enough clothes to last the week. I mostly just don’t have the bandwidth on weeknights to get through a load without something getting stuck in process – either a load left in the wash (getting stinky) or a load just in a basket unfolded until the weekend anyway. I was unhappy with that and have a good weekend batch system to get through it where it generally is complete to my standards.

By: Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam — Mon, 20 Nov 2023 18:11:51 +0000

In reply to Allison.

@Allison – feel free to share all your laundry thoughts! Clearly I am interested too, which is why I posted about it 🙂
I like the idea of separate loads for separate people – precisely for the ease of putting away. That is why I started doing my clothes separately from everyone else. I guess it’s more a question of wardrobe management for the kids whether doing each child’s full load 1x a week vs. combining with another child and doing 2x a week is optimal…

By: Allison

Allison — Mon, 20 Nov 2023 17:30:12 +0000

We do anywhere from 5-`10 loads a week, primarily on the weekend (3 kids, age 2, 6, 8). I keep everyone’s clothes separate – I find that the sorting is what makes the task less pleasant and more time consuming to me (when you combine the loads, it makes you touch each item at least 5 times…). When you turn 6 in our house, you put away your own laundry (it’s a weekend chore for them). The 6 year old still complains/needs quite a bit of help, but the 8 year old has figured out that they can get it done pretty quickly if they…just do it. I’m not sure when I plan on having the kids take complete ownership.
I read the book “Laundry Love” earlier this year. I adopted a couple changes, but the big one is that I now wash nearly all clothing on the Express/quick wash, in warm water. This has improved things a fair bit – the cycle seems short enough that I remember it and keep things moving through the process. It’s not my favorite chore, but I’ve made enough tweaks that I don’t dread it either.
Similar to unloading the dishwasher, I’ve found that the actual time needed for laundry isn’t that long, and I’ve used it to remind myself about the power of taking 5 minutes to ‘close the loop’ and I’ve been trying to teach this to my kids as well.
I didn’t realize I had so many thoughts on laundry, so I’ll stop now! 🙂

By: Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam — Mon, 20 Nov 2023 13:05:40 +0000

In reply to Katie. @Katie - fulfilling? Interesting way to think of it! It is nice to have a project be completed. Clothes go from dirty to clean.

By: Katie

Katie — Sun, 19 Nov 2023 12:26:44 +0000

Only one child here, and she doesn’t wear uniform for school so only wears one outfit a day. She does change pyjamas after one wear.

I do a load every single day but putting the clean clothes away and ironing only happen once a week.

I find it quite a fulfilling (!) job to do so don’t mind it at all, also I tend to wear the same few outfits so I like to have things washed and available to wear again quickly!

By: Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam — Sat, 18 Nov 2023 15:27:01 +0000

In reply to Hayley.

@Hayley – so far we’ve been fine with one dishwasher except if we’re hosting extended family! I just run it every night over night and it’s fine.

By: Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam — Sat, 18 Nov 2023 15:17:15 +0000

In reply to Karen B. @Karen B - team no fold here for me too!

By: Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam — Sat, 18 Nov 2023 15:16:31 +0000

In reply to Mandy. @Mandy- downward dog is definitely on my stretching list! The whole sequence takes 10-15 minutes, so not so bad. I think I can do this...

By: Mandy

Mandy — Sat, 18 Nov 2023 12:19:11 +0000

Regarding yoga, here is a tip my yoga instructor says if you don’t have time for anything else downward dog is a full body stretch! I don’t have any laundry tips I just do it as it comes and we do everyone’s sheets once a week.

By: ARC

ARC — Sat, 18 Nov 2023 04:56:15 +0000

I do my husband’s, mine, and household/dog laundry weekly on Mondays, and it’s usually 3 loads (sometimes 4 if there are a lot of sheets). A couple of years ago I noticed my kids dropping clean laundry into the hamper because they didn’t feel like putting it away. I got mad and that’s when they had to do their own laundry (usually Friday/Saturday). They do theirs together, in 2 loads (the taller sister washes bc we have a stacked washer and dryer and shorter sister puts away). If we combined all the laundry it would probably be 4-5 and 3 on a lighter week but I’m happy the kids are learning to do theirs and it makes the rest feel more manageable.