I have a confession to make. This month’s laundry habit has been the hardest one for me to fit into my FLYing routines.
I really do hate laundry. I abhor it and detest it. Chose any word to describe disliking something and it will apply! I definitely have Mount Washmore rather than Mount Washless!
Surprisingly, I am actually great at washing the clothes. That’s not where my problem exists. Like most, my issue lies in the folding, hanging and putting away of the clean items. Hence, the reason this habit has been the hardest for me to incorporate since learning to Fly.
I have two wonderful children. My oldest DD is 4, and I admit she has way too many clothes. Of course she has reached this picky stage where the only things she wants to wear are dresses. I am constantly washing the same clothes over and over again. As I mentioned, I’m efficient at washing everything, but then she will ask for a specific dress that I KNOW I have already washed. The only problem is I can’t find which laundry basket it is in!? I end up dumping all of the clothes out of every basket just to find the one outfit she is determined to wear. Then, instead of putting the rest of the laundry away where it belongs, back into the basket it all goes. This definitely stands in the way of having my house company ready! I do not want anyone coming in to visit seeing kids clothes everywhere, and more specifically, my own personal clothing items laying around because of my procrastination in putting the clean laundry away!
This is where August’s great habit comes in! I have added putting a load of laundry into the washing machine to my morning routine (right after I start the dishwasher). While the girls and I eat breakfast, the laundry gets washed. Then after breakfast I switch the clothes to the dryer.
Now, you may ask, when do I put the laundry away? Right after I get it out of the dryer! I have learned I can not procrastinate at all and let it sit in a basket in my bedroom or in the living room! That just leads to the domino affect issue for me with more clean clothes in more baskets for another day.
FlyLady says “You can’t organize clutter.” That means my next, and most important step, will be going through and decluttering clothes. Since I have an 11 month old DD who will be wearing many of her big sisters clothes, I will not be getting rid of all the extras. However, I will be packing up the clothes my oldest one never wears as well as the ones we won’t be recycling for the baby. That will free up drawer and closet space!
My goal for the rest of this month is to do a load of laundry a day and declutter and bless others with the things my youngest DD won’t be using. More room in our closets and drawers, consistency in keeping up with doing a load a day (including drying and putting away) will keep my laundry woes away!
Keep FLYing!
-Flybaby Marie
