Tooting this late? Uh-oh! Well, I have had house guests over for over a week now so my schedule has been jumbled up - I feel so discombabulated! Anyway, I am adding the Linky Late … but, better late than never right.
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Laundry can be a huge time sucker and it’s the task many Moms dread most. It doesn’t have to be this way. Here are some tips to help you tame the laundry beast.
Minimize
Minimize the amount of laundry you do by creating new standards of “dirty”. If you wear a pair of jeans for two hours then put on your shorts, are the jeans dirty? Not in my house. Pajamas put on a clean body at night after a bath and worn once aren’t dirty either. Ditto for a towel that blots a freshly scrubbed body. Teach your kids that dirty means it has food or obvious dirt marks on it. The exception? Underwear of course!
Minimize sorting by putting a hamper in each bedroom that has 3 slots. One for whites, one for darks, one for mixed colors. For kids that are very young, try cutting out a large circle from construction paper for each category. Tape these on the wall above the hamper to show where to put each color. Alternately, you could buy inexpensive colored bins that match laundry colors.
Train your kids to bring you their dirty laundry at the beginning of each day or at some other time you choose. Don’t turn socks right side out for laundering. Show your family members how to take off their socks without bunching them into an inside out ball. If they don’t choose to listen to your sock lessons, let them turn their own socks right side out.
You may be able to minimize sorting even more by washing more clothes together. Many times light colors can go into the wash with mixed colors if you use cold water and the items aren’t brand new. Typically only cheap clothing fades anyway so buy your kid’s clothing from the nicer stores. It will last longer and wash well.
Some important questions to ponder: Do underwear need to be “folded” or can they be neatly placed flat in drawers? What about small T shirts and shorts? Do socks need to be matched up or can they be thrown into plastic boxes in a drawer and matched up by the wearer? Important questions, these!
Delegate
In some homes, the person who dirties the laundry is responsible for taking the laundry to the washing up area. If clothing doesn’t make it there (meaning it’s stuffed under beds, in corners of closets or otherwise lying on the floor), it doesn’t get washed. Natural consequences work well for laundry. The first time your daughter doesn’t have her favorite shirt that she just has to wear to the mall, she’ll remember to get it to the laundry room. When hubby has no boxers, he may be motivated to get them in the hamper too. Developing “laundry on the floor blindness” is helpful for a Mom!
Older kids can be taught how to use the washing machine and dryer. Kids ages 2 and up can help with folding and getting clean laundry to their dressers. Even a toddler can “match corners” to fold washcloths and put their undies and socks in dresser drawers. Most youngsters think folding laundry is fun. Keep this myth going with them as long as humanly possible!
Don’t Procrastinate
Some tasks don’t take longer to complete if you procrastinate a bit. Vacuuming, for instance, takes roughly the same amount of time to complete whether you do it daily or weekly. Laundry is not one of these chores. Doing a load of laundry a day is preferable to tackling a mountain of dirty clothes that have set in stains, bad odors and maybe even mildew. Be sure to finish the job completely- putting the load into the dryer quickly so the clothes don’t sour. Then remove from the dryer promptly for folding so they don’t wrinkle.
As long as we continue to eat, sweat and move about, we’ll have to deal with laundry. Hopefully these tips will help you spend a little less time dealing with the repercussions of being human!
Here are some tips to help you tame the laundry beast.
Carrie Lauth is the host of http://www.NaturalMomsTalkRadio.com. For more housekeeping with kids tips, visit http://www.natural-moms.com/homekeeping_organization.html.
LadyPens.com - Awesome Articles by Awesome Women!
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This week’s guest is Aurelia Williams and our topic is “How to Think Positive”.
She shares simple and doable tips on how we can stop being negative and start thinking positively. Some highlights of her interview are …
This audio is really inspiring and empowering a must listen for every woman.
Also mentioned during this episode - The MommyFest BLOG Party and The MommyFest Chocolate Giveaway Contest. We are taking sponsors for Mommyfest until 5/2/08 - to purchase a sponsor’s spot - click here.
What: The 5th Annual Mommyfest Event
When: May 12-16, 2008
Where: Online at http://www.mommyfest.com/2008
Admission is FREE
Feel free to post this in your blog and help us spread the word!
I am getting everything set up for the 5th Annual MommyFest Event and I am soooo excited. Here are the details:
What: 5th Annual MOMMYFEST Interactive Online Event
When: May 12-16, 2008 (5 Days)
Where: Online at http://www.mommyfest.com
Admission: Free
I am actually throwing a BLOG Party for Mommyfest and I hope you can come and join us. It’ll be fun. You get to meet other moms and learn more about them, make new friends and find interesting blogs. I am currently working on th eprize and contest list and the schedule of events and speakers. I will make sure to update you all on how things are coming along. In the mean time, please bookmark the event site - http://www.mommyfest.com - and I hope our paths cross during Mommyfest 2008.
You can read my Tuesday Toot by clicking here!
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I have a couple of toots this week -
Toot#1 - New Graphic for our Tuesday Toot Meme - I have slowly discovered my love for graphics a year ago. I have been creating graphics for others for a while now and I love that i get paid for something that I really enjoy doing. If you ever need any type of graphics (logo design, banners, buttons, ebook cover - that kind of stuff), I do have a site that shows some of the work I have done.
Toot#2 - Getting the 5Th Annual MommyFest site ready. This is the 5th year I am hosting this event and I am truly excited. MommyFest is an Interactive Online Event for Moms. It will be for 5 days … May 12-16, 2008. Mark your calendars. Join me and other moms celebrate motherhood at http://www.mommyfest.com. There will be audio workshops, contests, freebies and lots of fun. See you there.
In this week’s podcast episode in about “Taking care of yourself naturally”. My guest is LaTara Ham Ying from VeganFamilyLiving.com. She spoke about the most common natural ingredients that we may already have in our pantry/kitchen that can help us take care of ourselves. She answers some questions like:
Are there any misconceptions when it comes to doing things naturally?
Is it easy and cost effective to take care of ourselves naturally? Are there any cost benefits?
What are some natural staples that we should always have in our homes? How can these items help us?
… and more …
I also talk a little bit about MommyFest 2008-
When: May 13-16, 2008
Where: http://www.mommyfest.com (Online)
I hope you join us for this year’s MommyFest event!
Mom - do you dread cleaning the house? I did - mainly because I thought it was so time consuming. I never seem to have enough time to keep up with housework. I often times feel overwhelmed and frustrated cause I never get my house clean just the way I like it. But,I have found a way to solve this dilemma.
How? Well, I have given myself permission to work on specific areas of my house for a pre-determined block of time. It has been truly helpful. I know I can not clean my whole house in an hour or two, but while working in increments of time, I am able to make a significant amount of progress. I noticed that if I commit to spending “x” amount of time cleaning specific areas of my house each day, then my house stays in the shape I want it to be.
How did I do it? I used my handy dandy timer.
I set my timer at 15 minute increments and I concentrate on one area or room in my house for that length of time - just doing the task that I think needs the most attention first. When I hear the timer buzz, I am automatically done fixing up that area of the house. Then, I move to the next area and again set the time to 15 minutes.
This trick keeps me from getting stuck in one area for too long and from doing unnecessary tasks. It forces me to work on each area a little bit each day without getting frustrated and overwhelmed. Sure, it’s not the same as deep cleaning but, if you get used to the routine, in time, that area will be clean like the way you want it.
If the task seems greater, I set the timer for a longer period - say an hour or an hour and a half. I even get the entire family in on it and assign each person a task to complete. Every one is pre-occupied with their task for that hour and when all is said and done, the house is so much cleaner and neater then when we first began.
Now, you may be wondering … how does the timer help?
I have noticed that when I set a time limit on a task, it puts me in gear to work swiftly. I tend to accomplish more in a short period of time - I am more focused because I know what results I want to get. I guess my subconscious mind is telling me to hurry and get as much as possible done in the time allotted.
Also, using a timer lets me know that there is an end in sight. This really pushes me to do the best job I can, because I know that it won’t last forever. And when I’m setting the timer for a short time for each area, it also lets me know that I’ll at least get something done to every part of the house by the time I’m done.
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