Help--need motivation to do laundry

[MotherSong]

Why should I do laundry? We are so far behind. I'm very embarrassed because DH was folding laundry while I was having coffee with my neighbor tonight. He's not happy about being this far behind.

What can I do to remind / motivate myself to make trips to the basement tomorrow and get some serious loads done? Anyone have any tricks to this? I want to make it "fun" or at least figure out a way to motivate myself. Maybe I should make a schedule? I'm very disorganized when it comes to planning housework and getting through it all.

Thanks,
MotherSong

[canadiyank]

Oh, I have *such* a bad time with laundry, too. I have 5 loads to fold right now. BAH! That's after already folding several today. :blah

I have no problem washing it, it's the folding and putting away part that kills me. One thing that did help is I have mp3's of the New Testament, and our church listened to them for 40 days...often I would fold while I listened. Now I'll listen to the radio or something, or IM with friends while I do it, and that seems to help.

:hug

[AmyDoll]

I used to fold laundry to Reruns of 90210. I need to find a new show to do laundry to - I think 7th Heaven is on in the afternoons. For me - routine is key! :tu I have 3 baskets of laundry on the bed (which won't be folded tonight) and it's not helping AT ALL that the cat we're keeping keeps "using" my rugs & causing me extra laundry :blah

[MotherSong]

This helps. I'm so stingy with myself about "entertainment". I grew up w/o TV. So I forget to turn it on most of the time. I guess I could allow myself a healthy movie, or turn on some upbeat music, to motivate some laundry-folding. What shows do you like (not on cable TV, we don't have that)?

[AmyDoll]

Hmmm you could check thru your Christian Radio station guide or NPR and see if there's a program that looks appealing to you and then make a date!
You could try doing it in the morning to the Today Show or Ellen or something. I don't like the "heavier" talk shows like Dr. Phil/Oprah - bc they are sometimes *sensitive* topics and I can't fold clothes with the kids around. It messes up my routine bc I have to find something *new* to watch

[Lantern Light Mama]

Here is what I did. I am still behind but it is getting better now. I hung a makeshift clothesline so that I absolutely have to take care of the laundry once it is put outside. We also cleaned out 5 bags of old linens, towels, and clothing. :rockon

[cornflower]

For fun motivation:
What's your favorite movie you have on DVD or video tape? I'd allow myself to watch it while I was folding -- and then pause/stop it 'til the next load is ready to be folded. AND you must put away what you fold from each load -- NOT wait 'til the end of the day saying you'll do it all then.

What I do for negative motivation:
I have to fold everything as it comes out of the dryer. Literally. I do not carry unfolded clothes anywhere (b/c the couch seems to like being covered in laundry!) -- as I take an article out of the dryer, i fold it. I separate everyone's clothes into piles as I fold -- the kids have small baskets of their own that they are required to put away. Also, I try to catch the load as it is finishing up so that I don't have to "fluff" the load again and waste more electricity. When a load is at the end of its cycle, i'm required to stop whatever I'm doing to go fold it so that I don't waste energy. :giggle

[MotherSong]

Is laundry on the main floor a good thing? Ours in the basement seems so dismal, and so far away. Not sure if that's just a lazy excuse from someone who doesn't mind wearing wrinkled clothes right out of the basket....

[cornflower]

Laundry in the basement would be *additional* motivation for me to get it folded **quickly** so that I could return back to the main floor.

However, I am a self-proclaimed laundry guru. :giggle (I *like* laundry. :shifty But, shhhhh, don't tell anyone.)

[ArmsOfLove]

I'd carry it all upstairs and fold in the main area. Maybe look at the stairs time as exercise :tu

It helps me to start laundry first thing in the morning--empty dryer, move washer to dryer, refill washer and start everything THEN go fold and put away what was dried. If I start a load every morning and every evening we keep up with everything during the cheaper rates from our electric company :tu It also adds to the rhythm of my morning/evening. Though I admit dh usually does the laundry at night (though he leaves it for me to fold in the morning ;))

put on something you like, race yourself, get the kids helping :tu

[canadiyank]

put on something you like


Oh man, I couldn't figure out why you'd have to be wearing "something nice" to fold laundry but then I realized you mean on the *stereo* not your body. :roll

[RiverRock]

:heart I know this won't work every week, but here is an idea I keep on the back-burner: I get too far behind I can go to the laundromat, and put all my loads in at once...go buy a coffee to enjoy or peruse the Christian bookstore in the same plaza...come back and flip the loads...drink the rest of my coffee while reading whatever magazine is lying around...then fold it all. All I would need is 1.5 hrs. to get away from the home for a little laundry vacation. I haven't done it yet, but I hope to one day. Maybe after a camping trip?

[canadiyank]

Jessica, my folks have done this, just to get things all over with, like when they're putting their summer or winter clothes away and want them all done at once. It's nice to just get it all done.

[Iarwain]

I had a harder time keeping up when my washer was in the basement. Having it off the kitchen it's much easier to remember to switch out the loads. It's just a quick, handy task not a voyage into the deep. Before I moved into this house I used to set a timer when I came up from starting a load to remind me to go back down when it was done.

Do you get your children involved? A is big enough to help folding many things. J could probably handle folding washcloths or kitchen towels or sorting out socks. I find that the folding and putting away goes much faster when we do it together as a family.

I also find that I keep up better when I'm using the clothesline. I enjoy the excuse to step outside for a few minutes. If I have time I fold each item as it comes off the clothesline which also really helps.

[ArmsOfLove]

put on something you like


Oh man, I couldn't figure out why you'd have to be wearing "something nice" to fold laundry but then I realized you mean on the *stereo* not your body. :roll
Nooo lingerie :shifty

:haha :haha

that's funny :grin

[Iarwain]

Nooo lingerie :shifty


Um, 'cause nothing else is clean? :shifty

[illinoismommy]

Things that have helped me...

I marked some laundry bins "hot" "warm" and "cold" (oh and one for diapers) and so its simple to see when one is full I toss in it

I do not allow myself to take laundry from the dryer unless I intend to put it away RIGHT THEN. If I take it out, then it sits in a basket and gets wrinkly and is absolutely uninspiring. That means if I toss one in, I have to put one away.

[naturallia]

I hide books at the bottom of empty laundry baskets and fill with clothes.... to motivate myself to get to them if I want to read them... but it doesn't always work. I've been known to finally get around to loading the washer and getting excited to find a book I forgot I had from the library :shifty

But this might work for you....

[naturallia]

Nooo lingerie :shifty

Um, 'cause nothing else is clean? :shifty


*ahem* and for that reason, I've done laundry in the nude... nothing was clean :doh

[MotherSong]

God works in mysterious ways...

This AM I couldn't find my oral appliance--something I wear that helps me to not grind my teeth at night... it helps me sleep. I have already lost one of them a few weeks ago, and am not sure if the dog ate that first one, or what. I have a second one now, that the dentist fed ex'd to me (for what seemed like the price of ... gas). This is oral appliance therapy is something new, since March, from the dentist.

So..panic...I got up this morning, couldn't find it, and I thought I swallowed it. DH suggested folding some of the laundry in our room. I folded, and folded, and folded, and crammed the dressers all full, and folded, and shook the blankets, and stripped off the quilt. No mouthpiece. It's clear plastic. Flexible. About the size of a handful of prenatal vitamins. I could definitely swallow it down. Finally after DH got home, after about 8 hours of laundry-sorting and panicking on the phone, calling the dentist, calling our family doctor, and pretty much planning to have my stomach pumped and my funeral planned (just in case surgery didn't go well)... I shook out the sheets and found the mouthpiece.

DH took us out for dinner to celebrate. :) I think he's glad I got the laundry folded. Our room has not been so clear since our last baby was born. I even swept the floors.

And DH and my mom and everyone are relieved not to have to keep track of our three little ones while I hang out in the hospital. I guess a little drama was an entertaining way to spend the laundry day today. ;)

[RiverRock]

That's hilarious! Glad all is well in your home and that you enjoyed a date with your dh instead of a hospital visit!

[canadiyank]

:hug Glad you found it and got laundry done at the same time!

[Lantern Light Mama]

Right now there are four baskets for me to fold in my living room. I'm not sure where my help went last night but he bailed out.