A few gathered Laundry and Organization Tips :)

Pinterest is making me angry tonight. It's amazing how a free service can incite such rage (Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc)

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!
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 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!

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 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.

 I also read this from No TV Mom:

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.....

Stupid Mittens

I will conquer winter gear. I did a pretty good job last year. But the difference this year is that the kids are more independent. The difference this year is that I really want them to be able to get out and put their own winter gear away, instead of me having to manage it constantly. They have done really well the past year with being responsible for their own shoes, coats, and bags... putting things on their designated hooks and also keeping their shoes in their room's shoe organizers and their crocs and flip flops in their baskets.

Last winter I kept their winter gear up in clear totes, each labeled with a name. This year, we have more winter gear than last year. Explain that you say? Well. Last year we had the "great mitten shortage of 2011" when the kids began losing mittens. Losing mittens in the middle of the winter is not cheap. And although they each started out with at least two pair of snow-worthy mittens, the gear slimmed down really quickly. Something happens to mittens that go to school. Names on them or not, there is a mitten monster SOMEWHERE between our house and back, be it in the van or at preschool or in the parking lot or something. Mitten clips are not really my favorite but I have tried them. It seems that when I use mitten clips the coat comes home with no mittens AND no clips. *sigh*

So at the end of last season, everyone got new mittens from the clearance rack. Ardyn is starting the year with FOUR pair of snow mittens and also various small "stretchy" mittens from the dollar store. Marek is also starting with FOUR pair of snow mittens and about 6 pair of stretchy mittens. They each have one "mom-made" scarf and At least four-five hats. A couple for really cold days, with ear flaps or face mask like protection, and a couple that are normal cheap stocking caps. This means that the "totes" that I have used for about 5 years, which alternately hold swim shoes and suits and coverups and hats, mittens and scarves... are suddenly too small to hold the gear. This might be okay. I don't know. I am not entirely ready to let it go, but the clear totes can't hold what we need and they aren't easily reachable and accessible for the kids to put their own stuff away and get it out when I ask them to. Part of me thinks to just empty their croc baskets out and put their gear in there. I think that might be what I am going to do. But then again I can see the search for mismatched mittens already. That leads me to think that a system with the shoe pockets would be better, a pocket for each pair. But the problem exists that we don't have wall space or doors to hang one, because they are all already spoken for.

Problem = too small house. I already know this. But for some reasons mittens are throwing me into this tissy that has me wanting to reorganize the whole house. Problem is you can't reorganize a whole house when it isn't even picked up. *sigh* *double sigh*

So tonight I toss around ideas. I have already organized the winter stuff three ways and none of them have made me happy. Hmmmm...... I even googled it.

Friday Again?

Wow... have I been slacking! So So Sorry! Last weekend was so super busy! I think the week was pretty busy too!

Saturday morning I bought CROCS Sandals (black on black)! Ahhh! Can you believe it? Me, the anti-croc! But the sandals don't look like Crocs and they are comfy and they wash off easy. I like them. They are too wide for me overall... and the piece that goes between your toes is a little too fat and leaves marks, but I am pretty much used to them now. After that I went to the Seatonville Greenhouse Auction and bought some plants and container plantings. Evan's brother bought some and I also bid on some for my "neighbor" Pat and so I had LOTS to load up and lots to get home. After 4.5 hours of standing at the auction and loading up all those plants, I spent the afternoon planting and watering, and I weeded two flower beds. Then I re-arranged the nursery. Sunday I picked up around home and we took the baby crib out of the box and carried it to the nursery. Monday I worked and took off early for a nap because I wasn't feeling well and had been up most of the night with BAD heartburn that lasted till about Wednesday. And in the middle of that bout I ran OUT Of Zantac and the pharmacy wasn't open in the morning before work so I could get more.

Monday night we assembled the crib. I added the bedding and the mobile and crib soother- and the nest full of puppies too! It's so freaking cute I have to go in there like 3 times a day to just look at it.

Tuesday and Wednesday were long days that I spent in a classroom for work, and Evan was in Des Moines for work. Wednesday night I watched Shrek 2 and last night I saw Shrek 3.

Tonight I plan on doing some shopping, I want to get Evan some new clothes for Father's Day, although Ardyn already "bought" something for him, just from her. (it will go with THIS and THIS that we already have at home) I also need to buy ingredients for Crock Pot Lasagna and Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole because Saturday morning I am getting a pedicure and then going to Evan's family Reunion, and we need to take some food to pass. Then Saturday night there is a cookout for my sister Liz's boyfriend Brian's birthday. Plenty to do! Sunday we will be getting invites for the baby shower (august 5th) put together and ready to mail out.

So really I have had plenty to do!

Now on to the Friday Fiver:


1. Are you attracted to the naughty or the nice?
Naughty, but only if I can conquer them and make them nice.

2. Do you let your dirty laundry pile up?
Well, yes. But with maternity clothes you only have like enough underwear for a week or so, which makes it difficult for anything to pile up. I am more on top of it now than before.

3. What's the last excuse you made?
Hmmm. To myself or someone else? I never make excuses! LOL.

4. Do you play it safe or do you take risks?
I love to be safe. I am paranoid and I am sure that bad things are out there waiting for me and my loved ones. I like to play it safe. But I have my own ways of living dangerously. Like ignoring the dress code, for example.

5. Friday fill-in:
Let's go to Target and Shop.

This is an interesting fill in. It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to say. It reminds me of my favorite pick-up line of all time, which I learned in college. "wanna get a pizza and fuck?" and then when the person says no, you answer "You don't like pizza?!"

Friends Don't Let Friends Wear Crocs

Okay. So Crocs. I have to say I am not a fan. I don't (usually) look down on someone for wearing them. I work in healthcare so I see lots of them. But this one time, when I saw this chick at Wal-mart with orange crocs, pink sweatpants, and a red t-shirt, I cringed mightily. I just. can't. do it. But then people everywhere say "they are SOOO comfortable." and "pregnant feet love them!" and I am like NO NO NO. And Every time I see them in the store I think "I should try them on." and then I force myself to turn away. "Do not look directly at the crocs." They will suck you in. I can't try them on. What if I DO love them? I will turn into one of those sloppy croc wearing folks. they are like only a half notch up from those sloppy birkenstock with white sock wearing folks.

But then I am searching Zapos and Kohls and Payless online for stupid shoes and they have NOTHING! What the? I might as well wear crocs. They actually look BETTER than all the other shoes they are selling. Good God! What is this world coming to?

Operation "5 people, 2 closets"

I am working on going through kid clothes and condensing Ardyn and Marek's clothing into what was once just Ardyn's closet and Ardyn's dresser space, to make room in the dresser and armoire drawers for baby things. This is not easy. Because the weather here is a bit "unpredictable" I am much happier when I keep summer and winter clothes out simultaneously. the only thing that I pack away each season is my own clothes and the snow gear and winter boots/swimsuits and towels. Previously, Ardyn's closet was split into two bars, one containing "good clothes" and one containing "play clothes." Although I have 5 more months, Ardyn's newest thing has been to take clothes off hangers and off the bottom bar (there's a reason she can only reach the play clothes) and it had gotten so excessive that she was snapping hangers apart and throwing clothes on the floor. I hadn't seen the FLOOR of her closet for a while. One day I went in and the ENTIRE bottom bar was empty. Nothing. Not one piece of clothing. Just the bar looking at me and a floor full of wadded up clothes and empty hangers (many broken.) I wanted, of course, to strangle the child... but at that moment I decided, no more bottom bar for Ardyn.

The children and I have had a nice little "talking to" about the clothing situation. They are not to get their own clothes out without permission. Ardyn has one drawer of shorts and tank tops that she can choose to put on if she feels the need to dress herself repeatedly. They also each have access to pajamas, socks, underwear, and undershirts. But even that needed to be condensed because the four drawers that house all but Marek's shirts belong to baby. So I crammed most of Ardyn's clothes on the top bar (they won't all fit) and all of Marek's onto the bottom bar. Marek's armoire was previously play clothes on the bottom bar and dress/good clothes on the top bar. So this time I decided that all play clothes are on the left of the bar's divider and all good clothes are on the right. I still have to go through Ardyn's clothes and sort them according to good and play, and some things need to get packed up again because she has outgrown most 4's and some 4/5's.  I just got a bunch of "new" things that I bought for each kid, from friends hand-me-downs, which I ADORE the opportunity to acquire. If any of you local friends have clothes or shoes or swimsuits for your kids that you want to resell, I am your girl. Even if you have play clothes to give away. I will be happy to look through totes and bags and piles and take what we need. I also try to keep my eyes out for used CROCS and tennis shoes. I always have a pair of good tennis shoes and a pair of play for each kid, and so I am always looking for inexpensive tennis shoes that still have life left in them for some time on the farm or in the sandbox.

So after condensing the"hung up" clothes, I still had lots of drawers to go through. I am not DONE by any means, but making progress rapidly. The kids stayed at Grandma's last night and this morning I was awake at 5:30 again. (ick) and I decided to just get up at 6:30, got dressed, and went to Walmart. I measured my closet organizer. When we moved in like 13 years ago I bought two of them, one for each closet we have. Evan and I used to have our own closets before kids. The only downside is that the "cube" like shelves that are on the left do not fit any CUBE Organizers because they are an odd width.

(shit, the power just went out :) I can still blog.

So anyway, I have had a hard time finding a container that uses that space efficiently, because if they fit within the 11 inch width, they are WAY too short for the 13" height and then you have all this shelf space you are not using. Recently there have been many more containers on the market that fit different shelf sizes and I decided it was time that I find myself some and make use of the shelve space in a better way. I wanted to find something that would allow the kids quick and easy access to underwear and socks, without the hassle of drawers that they couldn't open. So off to Walmart I went at 6:30 and found myself some perfect fitting bins. They had 5 left and I needed 6, (of course) so I just bought all they had. This morning I made labels for the bins with pictures for the kids and words for the grandparents and babysitters :)

I always keep shoes that the kids don't fit into yet, on those shelves, and in the top of the closet is a lidded tote for each kid marked for too small shoes. So if shoes get too small they get tossed in their top closet tote, and then I pull down the next size from the shelves. This works really well unless someone decides to get a stool and try to get down a cool pair of shoes they see on the shelf. I am excited to have the bins to put those shoes in, which will not only help me contain them and hold more, but also avoid confusion for babysitters about which shoes actually fit. Each child has an overdoor shoe organizer for "good shoes" and a "croc basket" on the porch on our shoe shelf, where we put play in the yard shoes, crocs, and flip flops. It will get interesting when we put one more kid's shoes in the mix. :)

So anyway, it was exciting to get the bins labeled and in place. I haven't showed the kids yet, but I am happy. Next it's pajamas and Ardyn's clothes- which need to be narrowed down and some packed away.

To label my containers I use the same adhesive backed pockets that I use to label the toy shelves and containers. Smead Self Adhesive Vinyl Pockets No. VP64SA. I adore them and have already come close to using a 100 pack. They hold 4x6 photos or paper, etc.

Well, power is FINALLY back on. The sun has come out, and the eggs have been gathered. The day continues!