Clothes Woes
So apparently laundry doesn't fold itself. Not even if you leave it in the basket for like a week. No matter how much of it you heap onto an already-teetering pile, it just sits there and wrinkles. There are no magic fairies (coughCurtiscough), no amazing miracles (coughCurtiscough), no laundry-folding gnomes (coughCurtiscough). Or hell, I'll just say it: no helpful spouses ... Curtis.
Seriously, I hate folding laundry. I would rather scrub the toilet than fold laundry. And y'all? I have little boys. Pee-spraying, non-aiming, poo-smearing little boys. So that right there should tell you something.
I will do laundry - as in, put it in the washing machine and move it to the dryer - all day. Our clothes are always clean: that's not the problem. The problem is that I despise folding it and putting it away so much that it ends up sitting in the basket until the pile of clean clothes is, like, taller than my three-year-old. And then it gets sifted through and stuff gets strewn all around outside the basket and I'm like, "Is this clean or dirty?" and I have to sniff it which sometimes reeeeally sucks if the item is dirty. You catch my drift. Sweaty boxer shorts = barf-o-rama.
I hate that everything we own is always wrinkled, but in order for it to not be wrinkled, I'd have to put it away promptly. And I hate that more than wrinkled clothing so ... there you go.
I don't even know why I dislike folding laundry so much. It's not like it's hard. It's not like I end up sweaty and panting by the end. It's not like it stresses me out and makes my blood pressure skyrocket, or is so mentally taxing that it hurts my brain. So what is it? I can't put my finger on it. Maybe it's just because I know that most of the clothes I so carefully fold will either be a.) knocked out of their neatly folded stack by a dog, cat, or child before I even get to put it away, or b.) promptly rummaged through and left in a wad in the drawer. Or maybe it's because it never. Ever. Ends. Like, I can fold three loads of laundry and then the next afternoon? I'll have to do it all over again. Ad infinitum.
I guess I should be grateful that I don't have to beat it on a rock, or scrub it on a washboard, or hang my unmentionables out on a clothesline for the world to see. But still. I'm holding out hope for the existence of those laundry-folding gnomes.
(....Curtis).
I'm right there with you. I have my two sons I raise by myself and ugh I hate laundry :(
ReplyDeleteI guess I'm weird because I love folding laundry. It's a quiet activity after the kids are in bed and I can watch TV while doing it.
ReplyDeleteOf course, then it's folded and sitting in a basket for a week being sifted through and...all the things you said.
I'm with you too. Except I live alone and its just my stuff. I leave mine on the kitchen counter for days on end picking you bras and panties to wear from that pile because putting it away just sucks.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, when children are little these things happen and you find yourself with a mountain of stuff to wash and fold.
ReplyDeleteI also hate folding laundry and sometimes to make faster I avoid ironing. ;-)
I don't mind folding laundry if I'm watching TV or otherwise entertained while I'm folding. But then, I don't have anyone rummaging through the drawers and wrinkling the newly-folded clothes, either. Give it a few years; then your folding efforts won't be in vain. ;o)
ReplyDeleteSo here is my secret. When I pull it out of the dryer I lay out everything flat into a nice neat pile. No wrinkles! Unless of course someone comes to sift through it, then everything they touch gets wrinkled because heaven forbid they should lay it out flat again. But still- no wrinkles for a short time!
ReplyDeleteI am with you sista! That is me being gangster! I love your post on laundry because I am exactly the same way. I was sitting in my laundry room this morning sitting on the floor sifting through the two huge piles of CLEAN clothes just to find socks for my kids!!
ReplyDeleteI don't fold it, really. I just put it right away. Most of our stuff is hung up. So, no reason to fold it. :)
ReplyDeleteIt took me a LONG time to get okay with doing laundry. I was like you for a while. But that was around the time when I was living in a condo or without a washer and lugged to the laundromat. Now that it's in my own home, I don't really dread it as much!
I have four young children (DD is 7, DS1 is 5, DS2 is 3 and DS3 is two months old)
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't fold laundry. I used to fold it, even enjoyed it, but I dint have the time. Pajamas get folded, pants get folded in half, but that's it. Ibdo like folding bedsteads for some reason ...
I dump the basket of laundry on the bed (easier on the floor because it's easier to pick up if you're holding a baby) and sort it into piles. One for M's, one for DH, and one for each kid. All socks go in their own pile. Once sorted, I grab a pile and take it to the wearers room and either put it away or get the wearer to help. Yes, my stuff is last and the baby's stuff sits on the bed in his room, but it's faster. Why fold shirts that have to be UNfolded to be hung up?!?!