I'm Baaack!! And I'm NEVER Putting Away Laundry Again!

Three months ago, on March 4, the most adorable of God's creatures was born into our family.

I fumbled my way through the first few weeks of mommy hood, continually being humbled and amazed by my precious daughter and the responsibility of her care. Needless to say, I took a hiatus from blogging. I'm back now, though, and I am boldly proclaiming:

I am NEVER putting away laundry again!

Ha! That's a laugh.

Perhaps you clicked on this blog link because you thought I had some magical way to get the tumbled clothes in the dryer to their final destinations in closets and drawers-- folded, ironed, and hung with care. I'm sorry to disappoint you.

Instead, this blog post is a response to my sister's blog article Never Washing Dishes Again, in which she confesses to dreading doing dishes and shares her sources of motivation to get the chore done anyway. She asks,

What is your least favorite chore? 

What do you do to push through and get the job done? 

Do you have a favorite chore?  

If you're like me and listen to music to help you, what's on your playlist? 

Could you share some scriptures or inspirational quotes that might help you w/ serving others and/or keeping things physically clean?

I'll answer the first two questions. Feel free to continue the discussion and answer any of her questions, as well!

My Clean House

I actually enjoy cleaning. I find such satisfaction in seeing a tidy home. Keeping an orderly house allows my family to spend the most quality time together.

But... if I were to choose the chore that is my least favorite, that dredges on and on, that I loathe completing... it would be....

Two loads of clothes sitting on my couch- just waiting for me.

Laundry- yuck!

I took this picture just a moment ago. Yes, friends and family. On my couch sits two loads of laundry from the day before. I will quite willingly put clothes into the wash machine. I eagerly switch them to the dryer. Once they are finished in the dryer, however, my motivation plummets to dire depths, and sometimes, they sit. And sit. And sit.

Cloth diapers that need to be folded and put away... in time.

I'm not sure why I dislike the chore so much, but it's like a mountain that I must summit daily without any energy, food, water, or even feet.... (Dramatic, I know.) haha

What to do? What to do?

Okay. So maybe putting away laundry isn't quite as dramatic as I make it seem, but that's only because I let it sit for eons of time before completing it. Here are my ways of dealing with the drudgery on a daily basis:

• Envision the Final Result: Visualization is such an effective tool when one is motivated by end result, as I am. I picture my clothes folded/rolled neatly in their places or hanging with the other garments of their type and color.

• Pray: 'Cause nothin' else will help! haha- Just kidding. As I put away clothing, I like to pray over the individual who will wear them. Who knew putting away laundry was a way to connect with my God and my family?

• Wash Mini Loads: Normally, I would not recommend using the "mini" wash cycle on an electric, standard washing machine. Even a mini cycle uses gallons upon gallons of water. I have a monster of a washer, that dances all over the floor if I do too large of a load. In order to avoid a hose breaking and flooding the floor with water (as has happened twice already), I have to wash smaller loads. As a result, I have fewer clothes to put away at one time, and it becomes much more manageable. You can also buy manual washing machines, like this one or this one, that wash smaller loads at a time, too, but use less water.

• Use a Clothes Line: I am not currently using a clothes line; I have in the past, and I have plans to use one in the future. The beauty of clothes lines is that you can take your wet clothes out of the washer and put some of them on a hanger to dry. Once the warm sunshine has dried your clothes, brightened them, and saved you money on your electricity bill, simply switch the hanged shirt, skirt, etc from the line to your closet. I have also found that, for clothing you cannot put on a hanger to dry, being on a clothes line still helps because you can see all the socks lined up- no need to search for a match. Plus, you're dealing with just one item at a time. AND you're in the gorgeous outdoors. Win-win.

• Positive Perspective: My sister "Lady H" mentioned this same idea in her blog post, but it's of such significance, I feel the need to reiterate it in my own post. When I don't want to put away the laundry, I remind myself of 1) how grateful I am to have clothing and 2) how having clean, organized clothing blesses my family and gives us more quality time together.

Now that I've defended putting away laundry...

I guess it's time for me to go put away those three loads from yesterday.

God bless you and keep you,
~Raquel