How do you do it?

I am a mom of four and get asked that quite frequently.  Most commonly I answer, I am not sure, I just do.  Then I will go on to say that life with four little ones seems almost easier than when I had one or two.  Now that sounds like crazy talk.  But I assure you its not.  I am not crazy, although I believe that each day I do struggle with staying on this side of sanity :)  I am more organized and less uptight with four as opposed to two.  I have bigger children to help with littler ones.  Even if the bigger ones aren't "playing" with the little ones, the little ones have someone to watch and parallel play with.

With that said about a week ago I needed the answer to a "how do you do it"?  So I asked two friends of mine, who happen to homeschool, have more children than I do and I look up to greatly.  My how do you do it was on the topic of the dreaded "L" word...LAUNDRY.  I am so bad at it, I have tried so many different ways, two loads a day, different types of laundry each day and the worst system of all, just ignoring the laundry until I have so much I must go to the laundromat and spend almost $40 to complete it all, only to have it piled high in a week or so.  My two friends gave me great advice, actually they gave me the same advice (it could be because they are sisters).  They helped me to realize that my first problem lies in the amount of laundry we produce and then they recommended the once a week "Laundry Day".  I loved the idea.  Mondays are a stay at home day anyway, so why not do all the laundry on that one and be done with it for the next 7 days.

So this is how LAUNDRY is dealt with in our home now:

-If it is not covered in dirt or food and doesn't smell too bad, it is to be worn again.

-Laundry is done one day a week, MONDAY, with the exception of cloth diapers and "wet" things, such as peed in underwear, smelly wet kitchen towels, which are done as needed throughout the week.

-Again I say if it is not really dirty, it is not to be found in the hamper.  And I have been know to scavenge through the hamper for "clean" clothes.  :)

-We now have a LARGE Rubbermaid container in the laundry room, instead of the basket or two that use to be there.  Dirty clothes may be put in the Rubbermaid or in the hamper in the bathroom, wet things go in the small basket that is on top of the Rubbermaid lid.

Before this new laundry plan I was doing about 12-15 loads of laundry a week, plus cloth diapers.  This past Monday I was 6 loads!!  FOR AN ENTIRE WEEK, SIX LOADS!!  YIPPEE!!  I was only consumed by laundry on Monday, not everyday of the week.  I love that the dirty clothes are nicely concealed in a container with a lid, so I do not have to see them all week.   I also love that I can spend less time worrying about laundry and more time doing things that I enjoy with the people that I love.

And the best thing yet, Nick enjoys are new found Laundry plan so much that he has vowed to put all the laundry away.  I wash, dry and fold.  It waits nicely on our bed for him to put it away after dinner.  What an awesome hubby :)