We are still wringing out our laundry because the washing machine won’t spin. If there’s one thing that I didn’t need, it was a broken washing machine. Our schedule is maxed out and my wrists are feeling a lot older these days with aches and pains. Can you get arthritis in your 30’s? I hope not.
Wringing out the laundry is NO fun. I feel for the pioneers. Thankfully my big kids are great helpers.
Of course, the laundry at our house stays piled up in one state or another – even when the washer isn’t broken. There’s usually a clean pile – on mama’s bed – and a few dirty sorted piles in the hall in front of the kids’ bathroom. I hate it when there is laundry on the floor, but you can only do so much, right? In a perfect world, or even just in the future when I get my act together, I’ll have dirty-clothes sorting bins and a nice laundry room with places to fold, sort and hang clothes that need to go back to the kids’ rooms. My big pet peeve is keeping the floor uncluttered and laundry is always keeping me from reaching that ‘chore utopia’ I long for.
I’m convinced that you only truly have a clean house if you 1. don’t homeschool, 2. don’t have kids, 3. don’t have pets, 4. don’t have a baby in the house, and 5. hire a maid once a week. Yet I still keep trying to keep the house clean regardless. I guess you would call that insanity.
I love what Alli Worthington says – “We can’t both look good. It’s me or the house.” In my house I would say it’s either SCHOOL or housework. They just can’t ever seem to both get done on the same day without major meltdowns.
Baby, while adding another ten loads a week to our laundry pile, has shown us that laundry is a lot more fun than it looks. So what if jumping and sitting on the laundry makes us all look wrinkled and frumpy. How can you resist that grin? Now that ‘baby bee’ is crawling, he loves to scale the laundry pile and laughs when he looses his balance and rolls off of it.
Even though baby is a lot more work, he brings a smile to our faces. And smiles are a good thing during chore time.
Miss Rachel says
He is too cute. The photos of him in the laundry are darling. 🙂 We had to wash our clothes by hand for a few days (except for a few loads of towels we did at the neighbours because we had SO much). When everyone pitched and helped, it was a fun and breezy time. We did it outside, where we washed in a tub of soapy water, rung out and then hung them out on the line.
Glad you can find happiness in all the laundry. I know it can be discouraging to see SO MUCH laundry, and go '*sigh* didn't I just wash three loads of blankets????' I suppose the quote isn't all that true. I think you can look good and your house can look partly good. 🙂
We have been decluttering around here and getting things ready for the new one to come. I had to wash all the diapers and newborn clothes for the new baby, plus some other stuff, like sheets for the bed. I loved folding the baby clothes and seeing the cloth diapers on the line once again, waving softly in the wind.
Well, this is getting longer than I had intended, so I'll stop now. 🙂 Give him a hug for me. 🙂
My Boaz's Ruth says
"back in the day" they also had tools to help with the laundry wringing!
Tracy says
Great pics!
Anonymous says
Oh, the joys of babyhood. It's the little "things" that make your heart smile 🙂
Melissa Stover says
i just had this problem myself. do you have a front load machine? my filter was, um, clogged. will blog about it soon. my husband emptied it and now it works.
Amy says
Ha ha! Your thought on "I'm convinced that you only truly have a clean house if you 1. don't homeschool, 2. don't have kids, 3. don't have pets, 4. don't have a baby in the house, and 5. hire a maid once a week." TOTALLY cracked me up! It's soooo true! I think every homeschool family should have an allowance to have a house cleaner come in once a month. Yep! If I had, I so would! Love your blog!
Hugs… Amy
dianne - bunny trails says
It's too bad you don't have one of those old fashioned wringers, eh?
I know what you mean about it's either the house or homeschool. I can never accomplish both simultaneously. Oh well, it's just a season, my friend. And really, aren't those cute kids and adorable baby totally worth it?!? 😀
Kristin says
Awww…these situations are trying. (Aren't you so glad to have kids old enough to be really helpful?) I totally understand the frustration of not meeting your housekeeping "ideal"!