Big Family Laundry Logistics

Here's a question that's come up recently... Should kids do their own laundry?

Now that's a subject near and dear to my heart.  Let me explain...

 I actually enjoy doing laundry.  I know it's sortof weird.  But it's a peaceful, mindless task that makes me feel productive.  However, with a large family, it might just be a little too much peaceful, mindless task for my taste.
So, yes, in our family kids do laundry!

Here's Graci hanging out jeans.  Noah just rigged up a clothes prop.  Patience is playing limbo.

I was talking with a mom the other day who said she would be horrified by the thought of sharing her laundry room with a kid.  I told her that I only do a few loads a week and the kids do the rest.  I think she was horrified by that, too.  But she also does all the cooking.  Imagine that!


I'd have to say that I agree with her completely about kids in the laundry room being annoying.  They are messy and rarely follow through.  It's kindof like the old college roommate days, where someone's stuff was always in there when you needed the machine.  And then you had to either fold their stuff, or deal with a guilt trip for dumping it in the basket and drying your own.  At least all my roommates are home most of the time these days, so I can just call them to come get their stuff.  But what seems to work even better than that is assigned laundry days.

Big families are forced to do weird things like this.  Assigned towels.  Assigned shower times.  Assigned seats.  And assigned laundry days.  Don't worry, it's not really that bad once you get used to it.  So, on Monday I usually do all mine and Captain's laundry, combined with the little boys.  And a load of towels and whites that get bleached. Tuesday, Noah does his and sometimes Jacob's (even though he refuses to fold it). Wednesday, Graci does hers, usually combined with the younger girls. Thursday's off.  Then I wash sheets or other random household stuff on Friday.  It's usually about eight or nine loads total.  And all the laundry is done every week. That's about one load per person, but I only do a few of them.

Now, I must warn you, the only way to make this work is to lower your standards.  Seriously lower.  I mean, my teenage son washes everything in cold together.  I don't know why.  That's a crime in my mind.  But he always looks fine.  And he doesn't smell.  And he appreciates having control of what's clean, when.  I appreciate not having to reach down into their disgusting clothes hamper to sort things out.  Gross!

I don't usually assign laundry to a kid younger than 12 or 13, but the younger ones always help the olders who are in charge of it.  Even Ben is responsible to fold kitchen towels and put them away.  He's been doing that since he was three.  And it actually makes him feel really important!

It's sometimes hard to give up your control of the house as your kids get older.  But that's how they learn, so it's actually good for them.  And good for YOU!  Once you get used to it, you'll wonder how you ever got along without all their help!

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And another freebie...

A mom of four wanted to know how I keep my kids looking so un-wrinkly.  She said she irons for an hour before they all go out in public....

Oh Yikes!  I absolutely hate to iron.

  I’m not sure why, since I enjoy doing laundry.  But ironing, well, let’s just say, don’t wait for me to iron it!

So, here’s my tip.  20 minutes before you need to leave, after everyone has scrounged their shoved clothes out of drawers and crevices, (These should be clean, or mostly clean, but just wrinkly) just toss them in the dryer.  Yep, that’s it.  If they are really bad, I mean super wrinkly, you may need to toss in a damp clean towel or just use something from the clean washer side that’s been waiting to go in the dryer anyways.  It usually takes less than 10 minutes. Voila! 

disclaimer: I know this is a waste of electricity, but it is a savings in sanity, so therefore it is still a good deal.

p.s. It also can't hurt to lower your standards a little more... : )

And another...

I love this picture. 

Since the weather has been so beautiful, I've started hanging the clothes out to dry.  Now THAT'S something that's worth the trouble.  Yesterday I did nine loads before 4:00.  I decided to take over laundry for the week since it's Spring break and everybody's cleaning out their rooms and putting away the winter clothes. I only hang out towels, jeans and other big, hard-to-dry stuff.  Although you could obviously hang it all out.  That way the dryer gets done much quicker.  When the stuff on the line is almost dry, I toss it in the dryer to finish (less than ten minutes).  That way the jeans don't feel like cardboard and the towels aren't so, um, abrasive.  Eventually, we'll get used to that feeling, but for now I guess we're wimps.

So, there's my big family/city slicker/country woman approach.

Oh, and I've been using that weird homemade laundry detergent for a few gallons now, and it seems to work just fine.  Just in case you were wondering.  : )