laundry, laundry, everywhere

The following is a really boring laundry post. If your eyes are glazing over, feel free to skip it.

Recently there was a "loveliness of laundry" fair in blogdom. I didn't participate. I didn't even read it all, life was crazy at the time. But I've been meaning to post our latest laundry routine. Laundry is one of those areas in which I've experienced some major growing pains. Less than 4 years ago, we only had one child...now we are expecting a 4th,,,if you count Kain as ours. I do. I have to do his laundry, after all. And feed him. But that's a whole other post. Anyway, I know my laundry feat is small compared to some of the great big families out there, but it's been an adjustment for us just the same. For a while I was doing laundry a little at a time, one or two loads most days of the week. I didn't like that much....it felt like I was never *done*. Now I do all the laundry, all at once, once a week.

Every Monday morning, I bring down our laundry from upstairs, as well as the laundry from both downstairs bathrooms, and dump it all on the laundry room floor. Kain dumps the laundry hamper from the boys' room, and Maria brings hers. I start the hot water in the washer, then plop myself down on the laundry room floor (yes, I can still plop quite easily this pregnant,,,but the getting back up is hard) and start sorting into piles...whites, light colors, and darks. I start the whites first in the hot water (cleaning rags go in here too, cuz they are gross), and the rest I was in cold. I keep swapping loads all day long, trying to get most all of it done by the end of the day. When the loads come out, they are sorted right away. I have six small hampers that I break out and spread across the floor, one for linens, one for each child, and two for John and me (one for stuff that goes in our dresser and one for stuff that gets hung up). So, while I'm pulling stuff out of the drier, I am sorting it into the appropriate hamper for later. Tuesday morning I continue, though that is our co-op day and I don't have much time, so hopefully I'm just finishing up the last load or two. That afternoon, I start putting away. This is my big chore to get done before picking up the kids from the co-op. I take each hamper of clothes to their respective rooms and start folding and putting away. Maria folds and puts away her own, and Kain will be taught to do this as well sometime in the next school year. If all goes well, all the laundry is done for the week by the end of Tuesday.

Ta-da!