We just finished Spring Break and I can easily say it was the least relaxing we’ve ever had. We had grand plans to re-roof our house over break, which proved to be immensely more stressful than we’d anticipated. Thunderstorms, tornadoes, and snow didn’t help, either.
Being 35 weeks pregnant also didn’t help. Why do we always plan insanity during pregnancy? You’d think I’d have learned, after all this time. Clearly, I’m a little slow.
With aching hips, killer heartburn, and limited energy stores, things have fallen to the wayside. Especially when most of my helpful crew spent the last week on the roof.
But one thing has actually stayed within a reasonable and manageable limit and that’s the laundry.
You read that correctly. I’ve actually stayed on top of the laundry for the last few months. It’s a victory nothing short of miraculous. It required an overhaul of our washing system, but it’s worked out beautifully.
I know many big families have older kids do their own laundry, but we haven’t gone that route. Between a finicky washer and kids who would probably opt for dirty clothes over washing, I’d rather keep this chore in my control.
Enter the Mesh Bag System. This is my husband’s brainchild and I’m quite grateful. Our kids have doubled up in rooms, so each bedroom has two mesh bags – one for clean and one for dirty laundry.
When one bag gets full, someone delivers it to the laundry room.
(If you’re a laundry purist, stop here. You may faint at my admission of never sorting laundry. Or folding.)
When I’m ready to wash that load, it all goes into the washer, gets dried, and gets returned to the mash bag. Someone from that bedroom picks up the load and they sort, (maybe) fold, and put the clean laundry away.
Occasionally, things get out of whack, but over all, this has worked quite well for us. Our laundry, as well as sheets, and towels all get done separately. But this has kept me from being overwhelmed by the kids laundry, so I feel like sheets and towels are getting better tended to now, as well.
I LOVE tips on running a home, especially a home filled to the brim with kiddos. Leave your best tips in the comments.
Sweet! I never fold the kids’ clothes either! I gave up on that I think after child 2 because no sooner do I fold it and put it away then they go to get dressed and nothing is folded after they have opened the drawer. So I just sort the clothes into piles (or the bigger ones sort out their own clothes) and call for the kids to grab their piles and put them away. I still fold my clothes and Peter’s, and I encouraged anyone 9 or older to fold their own, but I don’t stress if they don’t. Wish I had a hack to share, but we’re in some level of survival mode still. Maybe in a year or two!
That’s exactly what I was doing before! But with our tiny laundry room, it all just spilled into the hall and was getting super messy. Folding is definitely not worth my time these days!
Thanks for sharing! I feel like our laundry has suddenly gotten worse with potty training, baby eating solids etc.
It certainly ebbs and flows with the seasons, doesn’t it? I am really oping this system keeps us under control with a new baby and diapers coming next month!
I do all the kids laundry as well! But I do wash, dry, fold, and then they MUST put away nicely in their drawers…or else?