Last week in my list of personal goals for 2012, I shared how I wanted to teach our older children to do their own laundry from start to finish. Everybody now has their own day of the week for laundry, and I'm pretty sure this has changed my life!!! This is how the schedule goes:
Monday--Lucy
Tuesday--Caleb and Levi
Wednesday--towels & cloth diapers
Thursday--Lydia
Friday--Mine and Hubby's
Saturday--cloth diapers & towels
Of course Lucy is obviously excluded from doing her own since she's just turned 2 months old today (seriously...has it really been 2 months since her birth??) and Levi just "helps." =) But this schedule has been working out really well for the past two weeks and has kept Mt. Washmore at bay. Woo-hoo! No longer are we spending our whole Saturday doing laundry. Everything is getting washed, dried, folded and put away all in the same day. I don't know about you, but that makes this momma SUPER happy!
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| The kiddos are required to bring their laundry when they are doing their morning chores. The first time I had to do a lot of teaching, but their second time around I barely had to show them anything. Caleb thought it was so much fun too! |
After washing, they are also responsible for getting their clothes dried. We always put socks and underwear in the dryer and hang everything else on the clothesline. The boys aren't tall enough to hang yet, but they have to help by handing me clothespins, etc.
Once the clothes are dry, they fold them and put them away! They've been helping me fold clothes for a long time and are actually really good at it! Well, all except for Daddy's white t-shirts. Those still need some practice! =)
So, SO happy that we've done this new laundry schedule. I was not enjoying the "Moooooommmm....I don't have any more clean underwear!!" drama that would happen around here. Plus, they are learning responsibility and I'm working myself out of a job! Definitely a "win-win" situation!
Since we do ALOT of laundry around here, we need to keep the process as frugal as possible. Tomorrow I'll be sharing my recipe for my Homemade Laundry Detergent...it's cheap, simple to store and best of all, easy to make!
How do you keep Mt. Washmore from turning into, well, a mountain? Do you have a laundry schedule or do you just do it as needed?
We started a similar schedule about a year ago and it was life changing for me too. : ) The weeks we got thrown off track because of travel or whatnot made me really appreciate how well our schedule was working.
ReplyDeleteI really need to do this! (But give hubby his own day of the week - HA!) I want to make my own laundry soap, but 1) my laundry is in the basement and it's damp. That would make powder laundry soap chunky, and 2) I want mine to smell good, but not girly like lavender or something. I LOVE Purex's Natural Elements Citrus detergent, and want to make mine smell like that or something close :) Any suggestions?
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea!! And what great lessons you are teaching them! Haylee doesn't measure the detergent out or turn on the washer, but she does just about everything else. Love the "working yourself out of a job" ha ha!!
ReplyDeleteIt's good to do laundry on a schedule. Monday is laundry day at our house, but I only wash for two. Our daughter does her own. Sometimes there's an extra load that needs to be done later in the week, but one day works out well for the most part. I find that when there's a specific day for laundry I don't feel compelled (obsessively) to keep the hamper empty. Plus, it helps you with knowing how much clothing(underwear, socks, under shirts, etc) you need.
ReplyDeleteWe use a number of folding drying racks which are a great height for little ones to hang washing on too. They can be brought inside overnight to finish drying in damp/cold weather too.
ReplyDeleteWe did this, with most the kids old enough to do their own. Unfortunately, some 'forget' on their day, and others want more than 1 day, since they "don't have jeans enough to make it through a week." Argh. It worked very well for a bit. I have to get them back on track, because it really did keep the mountain manageable.
ReplyDeleteNow if we can just teach them to iron...
ReplyDeleteI would love to be able to do wash everyday and I guess I could but since our washing machine is in the kitchen and it hooks up to my sink I only pull it out 2 times a week if I can help it...but i would love to do at least one load a day...my kids do sort and put clothes in the washer and then pull themout for the dryer and so forth so that helps,especially for a prego mamma :) but I like your schedule...maybe one day when we buy a house with a laundry room I will be able to have a schedule :)
ReplyDeleteWe have to do at least one or two loads a day to stay on top of it. In reality I am usually behind and either a.)have to rewash a load that has sat in the washer too long, b.) have two, three (or more) baskets of wrinkled clothes needing to be hung or c)have a family with nothing to wear.
ReplyDeleteHaving the kids do their own laundry on their own laundry day is a great idea!! They are usually the ones to hang everything up already and were getting the laundry put in the wash before baby came but I've really slacked on it...gonna make some changes!
Thanks for the inspiration...and boy your cuties are growing up!!
Just have to say that after reading this post we put this into action at our house. Everyone has a set laundry day now and it is going great!! I can't believe how those laundry baskets are not toppling over with laundry!!
ReplyDeleteLast week was hard cause there was a lot to do but this week the loads have been much smaller and oh so manageable!!
Thanks for the inspiration!!