Note: I had this all written up earlier this afternoon and I posted it and then — poof!– half of it completely disappeared. And I have no idea where it went to! Oh well, such is blogging sometimes!
How was your day yesterday? My day didn’t start so well, but it ended well — and I’m grateful!
I slept in to recover from a full weekend and then started my day feeling really behind and off-kilter. I wanted to get the house back in order after hosting two different families for dinner + our Community Group over the weekend, I had a few pressing business projects, I was hoping to be able to go through the kid’s clothes, and there was just the normal life stuff like homeschooling and laundry and blogging.
So after Bible, blogging, and breakfast, the kids started in on their Daily Lists and I worked on cleaning up the house. I was shocked that the floors weren’t dirtier than this! We had 13 children at our house on Sunday alone (ages 3-12) plus parents/adults and there were snacks and drinks and dinner… so it’s pretty impressive that that’s all that I had to show for my kitchen/dining room dirt pile after sweeping!
Our bedroom needed a little help, too! 
We’ve slowly been working on decorating our bedroom — thanks to the help of a friend. I love how it’s coming together. Next up for decor: hanging some curtains and hanging some things above our bed.
Yes, we may have a bit of a laundry situation going on here. 😉
I posted this picture on Instagram and said:
She offered to fold the laundry for me today. Um, I’m not sure if she quite knew what she was getting herself into!
5 things you should know about this picture:
1) I have laundry issues. Always have and maybe always will. It’s one area of homemaking that I’m rarely on top of.
2) Yes, I have tried all the surefire and “proven” methods shared in the blogosphere and in books. Some of them work for a time, but usually I revert back to this in a few weeks. I may be a hopeless cause.
3) I AM really good at washing and drying laundry… And I’m holding out hope that someone is going to invent a folder and put-er-awayer someday.
4) In the mean time, maybe we should look into becoming nudists?!?
5) In all honesty, I’ve been reminding myself that recently, my unfolded laundry pile is the result of intentionally choosing something that’s a greater priority. For instance, I’d planned to tackle this last night, but instead, we invited a family we just met over for dinner at the last minute. They moved here recently and are struggling to get plugged in and find friends. Spending time investing people trumps laundry every day in my book.
While Kathrynne was doing the laundry, Kaitlynn and I tackled her closet. As she’s our resident fashionista, she probably has more clothes than Kathrynne and Silas combined.
I was so happy that we were able to get rid of a number of items — either things she no longer wears, things that are worn out, things that are the wrong season, or things that no longer fit.
We created a system for better organizing her dresser: accessories in one drawer, socks/underwear/swimsuits in another drawer, tops in one drawer, bottoms in one drawer, and ice skating outfits/clothes in the last drawer. I think this will make things much simpler for her — and I’m hoping it will keep her closet/dresser a lot more organized. We’ll see!
After we were finished sorting through Kaitlynn’s clothes, I realized I was running out of time, so I decided to go through Kathrynne and Silas’ clothes later this week and instead called everyone to the kitchen table for snacks and Morning Time.
After Morning Time, I finally headed to the garage to run on the treadmill and then to wash my hair while Jesse took over with the homeschooling and then headed to take Kaitlynn to her trampoline lesson (she just started doing off-ice jump training with a coach to work on some of her technique figure skating jumps and spins) and then take Kathrynne to her swim lesson (she’s doing private lessons with her swim team coach this summer to work on her strokes and endurance).
Once I was ready, I headed to our office space to have a meeting with my assistant and then to get some business/blogging work done. Before I knew it, it was 5 p.m.!
Jesse met me at Publix and then we rode together to a get-together at our friends’ house.
Remember when we went shopping with Tam on Saturday? Well, Tam and I begged Angie if she’d give us a makeup and hair tutorial on Monday night. So she kindly obliged… and wow! It was SO helpful and I learned a LOT.
Angie is a makeup pro and really needs to have her own YouTube channel. We’re working on that. 🙂
As you can tell, we didn’t have any fun at all. 😉
How was YOUR Monday (or Tuesday)? And since I fessed up about my laundry, what would you consider to be your “homemaking issue” or “time management issue”? I’d love to hear — it’s good to remember that we all have our own strengths and weaknesses.
I remember when one of my great homemaking friends showed me her secret! She has a big plastic bin under her sink with all her kitchen rags and towels. They were not folded and came straight from the dryer into the bin! This has saved my time and sanity!! We used to fold each one!!
Looks like you ladies had fun! Thanks for sharing
I struggle to stay on top of house work with homeschooling. I always hated sweeping and moping, but now my nine year old son mostly takes care of that and I rarely have to mop anymore! I still don’t find time to scrub out the tub/shower as I should. Usually when I get to the point of cringing before I take a bath, I know the time has come!
As long as my kitchen stays clean daily, and bed made, I feel ok to let certain things go.
I also have laundry issues-the putting away being the biggest one. Washing check, drying check, folding pretty good, putting away-not so much. With soon to be 5 little boys 5yrs old and under, the best time for me to put laundry away is when they’re napping which obviously doesn’t work since Id need to get in their bedrooms….
Thanks for sharing Crystal! I consider laundry my area of least challenge because I am mostly on top of washing and hanging/drying the clothes. I think if the clothes are clean then that’s 98% of the battle! Folding is another story. I put the extra large basket of clean laundry in the family room near the tv or on the sofa, so it’s a constant reminder to me and my 15 year old daughter that we need to fold!
So, I used to be pretty on top of getting my clean clothes folded and put away in a timely fashion, but then my husband and I started reading a book aloud together at night (he would read, I would fold laundry). So I started saving my folding until bedtime, because it was much more fun doing it while listening to the book. Well, now with 2 sons in baseball, we have less free evenings to read/fold, but I’m out of the habit of folding during the day so the piles are growing!
Mine is having little kids who get crumbs all over the floor. And I mean everywhere. And I try and do well for a little while giving them less messy snacks but they still spit out sometimes (two are one yr old) and it’s really disgusting. Part is really my fault for baking muffins and other messy foods, though and I’m really getting better at just giving fruits , veggies and cheese because it’s easier for me and also less messy. Sometimes I choose the hard option (like making muffins from scratch, including grinding the flour that morning) vs giving a banana and it’s just a crazy waste of time. That and not doing a better job earlier of teaching kids to put away things when they’re done and modeling that behavior myself.
I love your rug!! Do you mind sharing where you found it? I have the hardest time finding rugs I love. :-/
Amazon. 🙂
Thank you!!
Does the rug have a specific name we could search under? and is is 5×7 or larger?
I usually don’t ask about your decor but that rug would be perfect in our entryway!!! I haven’t bought one because I simply was overwhelmed with trying to find one that would go.
For us, I wash all the laundry but the kids fold and put away theirs and that has made my life so easy and I dread laundry less!
I think many of us have that same problem with getting laundry folded and put away. And you’re right … sometimes there’s other more pressing priorities, which is the case with me too. I usually limit the laundry baskets I own, so I’m forced to empty them and fold the clothes to make room for the next loads. 🙂
I struggle with so many areas that honestly it seems like laundry is the ONE chore that’s easy for me. It just seems to get done, the clothes get folded and put away, & I don’t mind doing it. My husband does his own laundry and our kids sometimes start their own, which helps. But I get satisfaction from bringing a jumbled basket of clean clothes to order, AND folding clothes is just about the only time I ever get to watch TV. Double win! Now if only I could transfer that attitude to my kitchen. (Hmmm…maybe I need a TV in there…)
That’s what I do! Guilt free TV watching (or a movie) in the middle of the day because I am folding laundry. For me it turns a chore into a treat! I should note that both my kids are in school when I’m doing this, so no one needs my attention.
How sweet of Kathrynne to offer to fold laundry for you! Especially that stack! 🙂
Laundry isn’t too much of an issue for me, but my struggle with organization makes up for it! I actually am fairly organized in most things, but I always struggle with papers and “little” things. I have tried every method I’ve heard of to control it and get on top of it, but nothing has worked long term. So, I’ve kind of made peace with it for now and figure I’ll keep working at it when I can and maybe some day I’ll figure out a system that totally works for me!
My worst thing is drawers and cabinets. I want my home to look so clean and nice. So what do I do? Stuff things everywhere! It’s a terrible habit and I’m working on it!! Oh my…sometimes I think what else could possibly fit in that nightstand or “junk drawer?” I’m actually hoping to work on a clean out this weekend on a few of them! 😉
Oh, I can so relate to the laundry problems! lol The only thing that has worked for me is assigning each of my 4 kids a day for their laundry. The put their laundry in the washer the night before, set the timer on the washer to start in the very early morning, then switch it out to the dryer before they go to school. Once they get home, they put it away. Sometimes they need help hanging it up if they can’t reach (for my 5 year old). The system works well because there isn’t really any sorting, because everything goes to one room. The piles & piles of clean clothes that had to go to every different room always overwhelmed me and I didn’t want to put anything away.
I love how people come first in your house. That’s true in our house too. 🙂
I would say laundry for sure. But I started dividing the chores differently now and someone has to fold/ put in the right rooms all the laundry from the day before. I also use cozi and update the chore list while I am at work so they can all check on their phones and there is no excuse for a job not done.
I am always on top of the laundry but I wish I could stop making the kitchen and dining room tables the pile catch all places in my home. I clear it off and it comes right back. Hubby does it too so we seem to be hopeless at keeping these piles at bay. Sometimes I even clear it of onto the back stairs if we have someone coming over. Grrrr…this does not help at all!
Me too! My beautiful dining room table becomes the dumping ground for papers, and we tend to drape jackets over the chairs rather than hanging them in the closet. Sigh.
I love the honesty about your laundry pile! Even after following your blog for years and reading your books, I can still be a little intimidated by your time management skills. So, it’s good to see that you have trouble with laundry, too! This is definitely my issue, as well. Right now I have three hampers full of clean clothes that need to be folded. Yikes. I think I know what I will be doing tonight…
I’m SO glad to know I’m not alone!
Sadly, the last load I do (and sometimes the only load of wash I do that day) will sit in the dryer until a. We’ve grabbed out of it until it’s empty, or b. until I was the next load – whichever comes first! 😀
Crystal, you might check into it to see if your housekeeper does laundry. A lady that I know of who has a housekeeper gets 3 loads of laundry done each week as part of their services, at no extra charge. Maybe they’d even agree to just fold/put away if you would want it like that. Or would charge you a minimal additional charge, but if it might be well worth it to you 🙂 Hope that helps!
Thanks so much for the great idea!
My housekeeping challenges are:
sweeping
vacuuming
dusting
bathrooms
kitchen
laundry
…. see where I’m going with this???
🙂
Too funny….. I was reading through the older comments and I am thinking to myself “These people only have 1 housekeeping chore they struggle with?” For me its everything! I cannot seem to get motivated to stay on top of any of my chores! Hoping this spring weather will inspire me to get my house back into shape!!
I’m right there with you sister. As much as I love having a clean house, I hate the actual cleaning process, except for laundry! Go figure.
I clean my house because I’m afraid if I don’t, I’ll end up on one of those TV shows where professional help is required… 😉
You must be a really good cook then, right? 🙂
The KEY is just what the FlyLady says, a load of laundry a day. We have never done laundry on Sundays (unless, of course, people are sick!) so two loads on Mondays. When we were first married I scoffed at my MiL doing wash daily, sometimes just the smallest load! I have learned, though, that is the only way to keep up. Also, if you have space to hang clothes that is better than folding, when practical. Lastly, having too many clothes contributes to too much laundry.
I like your bedroom. Instead of photos above the bed, consider larger bedside lamps. We did that and it looks great. Home Goods has wonderful lamps. We bought all our bedroom lamps there (we needed 4 table lamps) and my decorator commented on how good they look and asked me where I bought them. Their lamps are reasonably priced too!
I am TERRIBLE AT PUTTING AWAY LAUNDRY!!!!! My kids are 12 and 8. I have them put away their clothes and my 12 year old folds and puts away towels. As I type this I have all my personal laundry still sitting in the laundry room waiting to be put away. Most of the time all sheets and all my clothes sit until Friday. I have a goal to have all laundry put away by the end of Friday. I can usually stick to that. Someday I hope to be able to have all my laundry put away by the end of the day.
What I do is wait until the sheets are dry and use the same ones to make the beds. I have to make the beds, so this is one way of guaranteeing that they won’t sit in a pile.
If I decide to change colors, I make sure to wash, and fold the others immediately after drying them. I stuff the folded fitted and flat sheets + one pillowcase, inside the other pillowcase. This creates a neat package that I can just grab when I need it. No hunting for missing pillowcases. If I don’t fold them right away, I won’t get to it for weeks.
Mopping and dusting! I hate them both!
Thank you for saying you struggle with putting laundry away. I do too! That and putting away the pots and pans after they are clean!
Laundry is by far my housekeeping issue. Nony over at aslobcomesclean.com found that folding clothes directly from the dryer and putting them away is what helped her. I’ve been doing it a couple weeks and it’s amazing how mentally freeing it is to not have clean laundry in piles. For me, it has worked and is worth the extra time it takes. We’ll see if it sticks- that’s always the struggle!
Laundry is my issue too. We get it washed, dried and mostly folded but hardly ever put away. With a 2.5 year-old and a 3 month-old, putting away laundry is not my priority. Thank you for being honest about your laundry struggles.
It’s a running joke in our house that if you put an article of clothing down–anywhere, I have OCD against dirty laundry–it’ll be clean in an hour and a half but won’t be folded and put away for another week.
Laundry is definitely a struggle of mine as well. I can get our clothes washed and dried, but having the clean clothes make it out of the hamper into the closet/dresser is definitely something I’m working on doing more efficiently. I actually spent today putting away clean laundry and sorting through off season clothes and organizing clothes to give to a friend whose son is younger than mine and can benefit from our hand me downs. Since I’m having another boy this summer, my friend has just turned around and blessed us with baby boy clothes! It’s wonderful to be able to cycle through these clothes. 🙂
We’re the same way with off season clothes. Unless it was a late in-season purchase, it most likely won’t fit him next winter, so it gets donated. Helps with storage!
Laundry. What I do is when I take it out of the dryer, I sort it into baskets…one for each person. No folding. I do fold the towels as I am taking them out, but then I usually leave the folded towels sitting on top of the washer. Usually, the clothes just get re-worn right out of the basket, but once every month or two each person puts theirs away.
It’s been a rough couple of days here. My one year old was down with the stomach flu on Monday (there’s nearly a decade between my children so I forgot just how exhausting it is at that age), and I’ve got it today. Luckily my husband and my oldest son missed out. Laundry had always been my biggest struggle. I’m great at getting it all washed, but never seem to get to putting it away.
Make that 3 year old twins and we are in the same boat! I am hoping my dh, my older two, and I get spared! Thankfully the weather is a lot warmer here than it was a few weeks ago so we were able to stick with simple lands end dresses instead of layers and layers. It made the clean up easier! I hope your LO feels better aoon!
You’re friends with Angie Smith?! I can only imagine how inspiring it is to be friends with both of you! What an amazing group of women!
Angie was the first one to beg us to move to TN a few years back… and we credit her for planting the seed in our hearts and minds! We’re so grateful for her encouragement to consider moving — and for her friendship! She’s been hugely instrumental in introducing us to some of our closest friends here.
Recovering from gluten poisoning took my energies since Saturday. Green smoothies with wheat grass seemed benign enough however more research indicates that the mfr doesn’t cut off the seed pods of the wheatgrass thus allowing gluten to be in an otherwise healthy drink. Lesson learned, again. single ingredient items are best and trust only a few to cook for me and with me.
My Monday and Tuesday were mostly nice. My homemaking issue seems to be filing papers. I need a file clerk! I just always seem to have higher priorities than going through the never ending paper stream.
This is mine too! I do pretty good with laundry, cooking and my children do most of the cleaning but paper – ugh! Too bad we can’t be all digital (though I’m pretty sure that would drive me just as crazy!).
🙂
Lea
I used to have huge piles of things to sort. Now, I ruthlessly throw out junk mail and open all my mail over the garbage can!! I only keep something I have to act on.
Where do you store off season clothes?
In most cases, we don’t keep many because our kids are usually out-growing/wearing out their clothes each season and they don’t have anyone to pass them down to when they’ve outgrown them. I usually hang onto a few pairs of jeans/shirts/shorts, etc. and keep those in their bottom drawers and the rest of the clothes they’ve outgrown or worn out get donated.
I’m on vacation all week from work hosting an out of town guest. Yesterday we hiked and went to watch the bats fly out from under the Congress Street bridge. Today we kayaked Lady Bird Lake and went to drag queen bingo, where I won a one liter bottle of vodka, sure to gather a lot of dust. Tomorrow we’re going to San Antonio to see the Alamo, Friday we’re taking a dance lesson. Gotta love Austin, there’s always something fun to do!
I like the rug in your bedroom!
The only trick I have ever found that works is to limit the number of laundry baskets I use. I rotate only two baskets for our family of 6, thereby enforcing that I have to empty and fold at least one basket in order to wash more clothes. Hope that helps!
This is a good trick! Same here. For our family of 4, we just have one large hamper and when it’s full, I know I have to wash clothes.
That is totally what I do, Jen! And since I can’t stand laundry piled on furniture (although it does happen once in a blue moon), it really takes care of the laundry monster for me.
Monday and Tuesday were great! I did get quite a bit done around the house (after finishing up taxes Saturday) and with business. Putting away laundry seems to be my challenge as well. We line dry ours, and sometimes other things just take priority over putting clothes away. I understand, Crystal. 🙂