Nothing will pin, from a mobile device or from a browser on the laptop, and it is SO frustrating, especially considering I found a cool solution to try for the mitten fiasco. Oh well. If I link it here I will find it again.
I also got frustrated while doing laundry tonight. Every laundry basket I own is full of.... well.... Laundry. Mostly clean things that need to be put away, but also clothes that the kids have outgrown and are waiting for me to buy a couple of totes to pack it away. I also just topped off two totes of shoes that they have outgrown. I matched 10 thousand socks and wanted to put them away, but they are in bed and not sleeping yet, so I was thinking "tomorrow" but I also know that if I try to put them on the couch that tomorrow they will have them all mixed up and I won't know whose is whose, and they can have that accomplished before my feet even hit the floor. So I was really wishing that I had a smaller clothes basket that I could designate for each of them just for their laundry that I fold. That might eliminate the back of the couch being full of folded laundry, but I doubt it because there is a good chance that the baskets will just be full all the time. However, Ardyn does put away her own socks and underwear and I am thinking that this is a good time to teach Marek to do the same. He is now able to reach and open and close his sock drawer, so now is a good time. I might even do some rearranging so that he can do it easier. If only Evan would install the new drawer glides in the changing table.... HINT HINT. I would have two whole drawers that have been unusable for the last year. I have had the drawer glides for at least six months, probably more like 10. *sigh* Men.
So I decided there must be two matching containers SOMEWHERE In this house that could be used for little laundry baskets, and I came across two collapsable crates (of which I had many at one time, but one broke and others have become catchalls for crap in various corners of attic or basement or garage) and so I scrubbed two up and have them drying on the porch in front of the portable electric heater :) And I am determined to make little tags to go on them, like their collapsible croc crates that I use on the porch. (see right)I did end up temporarily packing up all the crocs and putting mittens and hats and scarves in the crates.... and we will test it out. They aren't really feasible for all the mittens, so I kept all the spare pairs back in the clear totes that they were originally in. Otherwise I can just see more mitten loss than necessary and mismatched mittens. I want them to succeed in getting their things ready or on their bodies, not want to smack their little heads against the wall in frustration. I swear I had more of those primary colored collapsible crates, I got them at a dollar store YEARS ago, like 12 years ago, when we first moved to Wyanet. I used to keep kid toys in them for friends who brought their little ones over to visit. They are so sturdy and have lasted forever. The croc baskets sit atop a wooden shoe shelf/bench that my great great grandpa Joe made, and I found out in the old chicken coop at the farm and asked Grandpa Kenny if I could have it. It is far from fancy but painted white it fits nicely along the front door and holds shoes and things. One thing that is great about this house is that it is so original and craftsman style with lots of built ins. But of course, there is one room without a closet (Marek's) and there are no coat closets or entryway closets anywhere. I find that incredibly frustrating with all the gear that comes with two kids. I can only imagine myself in a house with an entryway or mudroom that could house something fantastical like this.....
Yep. That I don't have. Someday. In a bigger house. Please.
So anyway, back to the laundry thing. I often think that what I really need is two washers and two dryers, but at the same time I realize that perhaps I just need to be better about DOING the laundry on a more regular basis. I get going good for a while and then some life event or illness comes along and it all falls apart.
I was reading a few tips for managing family laundry, and while some of them were far from rocket science, a few others struck me as things I would like to move towards:
1. Have kids sort their laundry themselves. Right now the kids both know about the hamper and where the hamper is. For the longest time I just put all their clothes into one load, but now that they are getting dirtier, I wash their white socks with ours, and their jeans with ours, and the rest of their clothes all together. I was thinking that they couldn't sort because Marek doesn't even know his colors yet.... but then I realized that he DOES know what jeans and socks are, and that with photos he should be able to put jeans in one container, socks in another, and all other clothes in another. I have laundry sorters in the basement and I was just thinking, maybe that is something I should have them doing. If not IN their rooms (space is seriously at a premium here) then perhaps have them go down with me and sort clothes in the laundry room when I do my sorting.
2. Hang a mesh Lingerie bag for each child and have them put their dirty socks in the bag. This will keep their own socks together in the wash. I used to use the sock pro holders when they were younger but I don't now that they are bigger. My biggest problem is inside-out socks. I spend so much time unballing socks in this house it's ridiculous. But if I don't, then they don't get clean.
3. Give them each a stain stick and teach them to use it on their own laundry. Hmmm. Intriguing.
I read this from Kelly S.
I AM NOT A SLAVE TO YOUR SOCKS!And thought that I could probably at least get Ardyn to unroll her socks. Although her biggest problem is that they are usually inside out and I would have to teach her to turn them, which she currently can not do. But even if I didn't want to ride her ass about it constantly, there is also no reason I couldn't sit her down on laundry day with her bag of dirty socks and tell her to please turn them all and unball those that she didn't take care of initially. That might just work!
The children all have their own sock bag. This is a large lingerie bag that also hangs on the back of their bedroom door. On sock-washing day, I grab all the bags, throw them in the washer, and put an empty lingerie bag on their hooks. Then the socks go, bag and all, in the dryer. When dry, contents of the bag are dumped in the appropriate party's sock drawer. If they put socks in the bag inside out, that's how they get 'em back. If they put "sock donuts" in there, the socks don't come out very clean, so they quickly learn to unroll socks before putting them in the bag.
and she also said this, which is probably all tooooo true. I have a TON of labeled hampers in the laundry room so I can sort, but I have to admit that I never once thought of sorting the laundry every day. Now THIS might actually get me somewhere. Hmmmm....
LAUNDRY TAKES DAILY ATTENTION.I also read this from No TV Mom:
I have six laundry baskets in my laundry room and one hamper in the bathroom. Dirty clothes get tossed in the hamper. Once a day, I sort the contents of the hamper into my six laundry baskets. (Jeans, whites, brights, lights, delicates, linens.) Monday I wash, fold and put away jeans, Tuesday I do whites, etc. The key is to fold and put away the same day they are washed. I used to have clean clothes, waiting to be folded, in piles all over my house. This way, laundry takes almost no time at all.
We are now 2 months into my new laundry plan. The child with the LEAST amount of clothes in the wash wins $1. This one dollar a week has transformed my wash. I do wash on only 1 DAY! We are a house of six. I am down to just 3 or 4 loads of laundry a week.
I bought cheapie laundry baskets for each child. As I wash and fold the dry clothes, I just place them in the appropriate basket. Then when the wash is all down, out comes the dollar and dad is the judge as to who has the least amount (not counting underthings and socks).
and was intrigued. Maybe not there yet as far as age goes, but this sounds interesting to say the least. Especially when we have the problem of Ardyn trying to wear multiple outfits a day.
and Paula H said
With a laundry marker, put one dot on all of your oldest child's clothes, to identify what belongs to whom. I'd suggest marking all similar items at the same place; e.g. put one dot above the center toe on each sock. Mark your second child's clothes with two dots, and so forth down the line. That way, when your oldest outgrows his jeans, simply add a second dot, and they are marked for little brother. If you have a large family, you may want to use dots for the boys and dashes for the girls, so your ninth child doesn't start to think that polka dots are in fashion.Which solves the problem that I have of passing things down. I can't use different colors on different socks because I am going to PASS THEM DOWN. Aha! Magical moment just happened here.
Okay, now I had better go DO laundry instead of just talking about it.....
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