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Christi Diggs
on Feb 4 2010 - 06:00 AM
Regular cleaning...going rate, cleaning after sick child...priceless
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Deb Clem-Buckert
on Feb 3 2010 - 12:00 PM
Goodbye Tooth Fairy! (Tinkerbell, Please Stay A Little While Longer)
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Kady McMaster
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I’m talking her honest-to-God laundry here, people, not some smarmy secret that needs to be expunged.
She’s got five kids and a husband who sounds like he’s not home much, between riding snowmobiles all over Hell’s half-acre and shooting and gutting moose and working one week on, one week off, in an oil field in northern Alaska.
There’s no nanny, not even a cook. Is there a laundress? Does Sarah stay up late watching QVC or CNN while she folds the whites? Or do Bristol and Willow take turns washing and folding? When Todd's in town, is it his job?
I want to know her secret. Because as I write this, I’m fully aware of at least two huge baskets of dirty laundry sitting outside my bedroom door. And that’s only the stuff I know about. That’s not counting the wet towels on someone’s bedroom floor or the dirty underwear that was shoved under a bed or the hamper in one bathroom that I always forget to check.
I have battled the laundry for years. So far, the laundry is winning.
It’s not that my parents didn’t teach me, either. One of my childhood chores was folding laundry. I pride myself at ridding clothes of stains. I’ve mastered the art of folding a fitted sheet.
But still, the laundry dogs me. Even before we had kids, Matt and I had mounds of dirty clothes. And he sent his suits and shirts to the cleaners. So where was it coming from?
We never got on top of the laundry, never figured out a good system. In the early days of our marriage, Matt still had the laundromat mentality: wait until everything was dirty, then spend hours washing, drying and folding. I wanted to bite off little bits at a time, but he argued that meant we were always doing laundry.
Then the kids came along, bringing with them entire wardrobes of wash and wear. With no system in place, it was a disaster.
For years, our washer and dryer were in what I fondly called the “Silence of the Lambs” basement. I hated it down there. There were water issues and litter boxes and sometimes creepy crawlies. The less time I spent there, the better. So I’d forget about the laundry, and it would spill over its baskets onto the floor, and then the basement would get water in it. And the dirty clothes never stood a chance.
About seven years ago, we finally moved the washer and dryer to the first floor, off the kitchen. I rejoiced and knew my prayers had been answered. But that’s where the user error came in. The stuff wasn’t washing itself.
I bought a three-binned laundry sorter and placed hampers in both bathrooms and outside each bedroom. Several times a week, I brought the laundry downstairs, where it spilled into the kitchen and tripped people.
To be fair to myself, I did have a baby at the time and a husband who rarely was home -- you see why I want to quiz Sarah Palin.
One day my mom came over. She’s always trying to encourage my homemaking efforts, trying to put a positive spin on things like the dog hair that rolls like tumbleweeds across the floor (“It must be the furnace filter”) or the muddy footprints on the floor (“I think those kids walk right through the puddles on purpose.”)
For years, Mom was convinced that all my laundry problems would be solved once the washer was on the first floor and we got rid of some of our clothes. So I was griping that day about the laundry and how no matter how often I do it, I never make a dent in it. And there the washer sat on the first floor, and I still was behind.
Mom’s brow furrowed as she thought for a moment, and then she said, “You know, if you lived in Singapore, you could have a household staff. You’d have someone doing your laundry for you.”
No idea where that came from. I just stared at her, loving her for refusing to admit she’d raised a child who couldn’t hack the most basic household chores.
So Sarah Palin, if you’re reading this, spill. Enlighten me. Tell me what to do with all this dirty laundry. Your public wants to know.
Kate you and I are so in tune, not only do you live in my hometown but you fight with laundry too! This is always a battle for me, I will do good for a while but I just cant seem to stay on top of it. I swear the laundy multiplies overnight. By the way, will you Mom adopt me?Amen sister. I am lamenting a day of laundry here today! Ours is just off the master bedroom. The dirty clothes go in my walk in closet in sorted stacks. When the stacks are big enough for a load, they go in. Our problem is folding. Who wants to fold? No me, ever. Three laundry baskets of clean clothes and a catwalk of dirty clothes piles... today's the day. My P has some form of aspberger's where the concept of laundry doesn't equate. She just can't figure it out. You think I'm kidding. I'm not. She folds.Maybe the secret is dry cleaning! I think there is a real environmentally friendly cleaner in south JOCO, and Bill Self was even at the opening of another cleaning service for Tide I think. .... Oh, and at least your washing machine WORKS. Mine went kaput last night! (See forum thread!)We "recycle" clothes, which really cuts down on the laundry. I learned how from my DH, who is the master of recycling his clothes. The man will wear the same pair of jeans for a week! I'm good for a couple of days. If DH doesn't seen any visible dirt on the twins' clothes at the end of a day, he will try to recycle those. I have to tell him if they girls played outside, dribbled juice, or sat in syrup. Then he rolls his eyes and reluctantly tosses their clothes in the hamper. Of course, this strategy only works for people who don't go places for days at a time, like us. For the record, we do NOT recycle underwear and socks, and fresh clothes are a must when we are out and about. After all, appearances are everything ...Laundry is the one chore I do without complaint, because there is so little to it! Well, at my house, anyway! My kids are required to do their own laundry; I do everything else. But I still have the problem with Mount Washmore (see flylady.com) and it's a never-ending battle. I may not mind doing laundry, but I sure don't want to do it every single day of my natural life!!!Sarah may not have a Nanny or Cook, but I would wager to guess she has a "Cleaning Lady"....!!!! The daunting laundry task is never ending.I actually solved the problem by going to ONE hamper-- it fills pretty quickly which makes me THINK I'm behind so I do it. At least one load a day. I fold the resulting mountain while watching tv and stack it on the bed in the master so it has to be put away ( by the kids) so we can go to sleep. Now, if I could find someone to tackle the mountain of papers that come in the house.. send them my way.Amen!!! Laundry is a thankless and never-ending job. I've considered disposable underwear and lower the standard for "clean" shirts in our house, but I couldn't find any vendors online. Gotta go fold now...Kate, I almost could've written this blog line-by-line and had it be true about me, too. I hate laundry. HATE it! Would rather clean the garage, empty the litter boxes, scrub the potties, do the dishes a million times over before doing even a single load. I always say if I'm ever rich, screw the housekeeper, I'm buying me a laundress. Or maybe Sarah Palin...?We have laundry issues too! I would rather pay someone to do my laundry than to come and clean my house! I hate doing it and it never goes away!I had the hardest time keeping up with the laundry when I went back to work a few years ago. It's one of the reasons I stay at home now. That and I like to play with my kiddos.Great post and comments. DH and I use to have a system that worked well (we each did our own laundry - that way he couldn't get mad if he didn't have clean clothes and I could procrastinate doing my own), but once we had the boys, that was down the crapper. I pretty much do it all now. My husband has picked up some of the other chores I use to do to make up for it....but I HATE doing the laundry!!!Kate - forgot to ask - how do you fold a fitted sheet? My DH and I were trying to fold one the other day....it just never works!Laundry, bills, and dishes.....three things that are never really done.....they just keep coming. Yikes!!!!
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