I've Got the Laundry Room Blues

Linking up with Jen at Conversion Diary and posting each day for seven days. They may not be good posts, or profound posts, but by God there will be posts!

My laundry room, much cleaner than usual,
which is why I took a picture.

Let's talk about chores. Specifically, laundry. How do you do it? I've had success following Nony @ A Slob Comes Clean in terms of getting the dishes under control, but she suggests having a single day in which you do a week's worth of laundry and I don't think that will work for me. The only days I have available are Saturday or Sunday, and it's not always logistically possible to do laundry all day on either of those days. I have a work from home day once per week, but it's always inconsistent and I can't put the clothes away until I'm done with work for the day. Depending on when I start, I may not have that much time once I'm done and have to go pick up the kids. 

Trying to get laundry done on weekday evenings seems impossible. No matter how hard I try there just isn't enough time after I've gotten supper sorted out, and then the dishes done afterwards. 

Because I'm up at 4:30 in the morning, by 8:00pm I'm exhausted, so doing laundry after the kids are in bed is a daunting prospect. Plus, putting the laundry away means sneaking into their rooms while using a flashlight. 

Clothes management is difficult too. I have big plastic tubs to store outgrown clothes, but despite that I have outgrown stuff all over the place. I can't seem to keep up.

What works for you? Any tips or tricks to share? I'm all ears.

I need this book.

The Messies Manual: The Procrastinator’s Guide to Good Housekeeping by Sandra Felton

A good day so far

Lo and behold, I seem to have a bit of energy today (for the first time in several weeks). I've gotten supper in the crockpot already, as well as the dishwasher emptied and loaded again, and a load of laundry in the washer. There's still tons of housework to be done, but I'm feeling somewhat productive nonetheless.

What I accomplished yesterday

- Taking out the garbage
- Laundry, both washing and putting away clothes and bedding (I got some done)
- Shovel out my bedroom (nope, not even close to done)
- Shovel out Elanor's bedroom (shouldn't take too long) (just needs to be vacuumed!)
- Tidy up the kitchen/living room (doable)
- Finish Collin's Father's Day gift (I made cookies instead)

Tonight, after I get the kidlets bathed and in bed: more laundry. Ah, what an exciting life I lead. ;)

Today's agenda

Collin is taking his mom to the airport today (she's flying to ND and staying in that area for a month or two), and then he's going to play some D&D with a new gaming group he's discovered at a gaming store in Glendale. He went last week and had a fantastic time.

When he came home, he said, "It was so nice getting out of the house and interacting with new people for a change!" I didn't understand what he meant at first, and then I realized -- he works from home. All his human contact during the day takes place via phone, and he rarely leaves the house until I get home or on his days off.

Since I work outside the home, my perspective is different and I didn't realize how much he was craving actual face-to-face interaction with people while doing something he enjoys. I hope he has fun today, although I'm going to miss having him here to run interference with the kids.

William's really starting to get into his terrible twos (yes, already!) and he gets into EVERYTHING. Elanor actually does a really good job of keeping him distracted for me, but sometimes they start fighting and I have to referee.

I was out shopping with the kids pretty much all day yesterday, so I couldn't get much done. I never can on Saturdays given that I either have to keep the kids quiet or out of the house (since Collin is working). I usually opt for the latter, because it's easier. Still, that only gives me one day to get housework done (and not really any time for relaxation, which is one of the disadvantages about Collin working Saturdays).

Today's agenda includes:

- Taking out the garbage (should've done it Thursday night, but I was too tired)
- Laundry, both washing and putting away clothes and bedding (it never ends)
- Shovel out my bedroom (this is ambitious, but I want to make an attempt)
- Shovel out Elanor's bedroom (shouldn't take too long)
- Tidy up the kitchen/living room (doable)
- Finish Collin's Father's Day gift

I hope I can at least make a dent in this list, anyway.

The kids are suspiciously quiet, so I'd better go see what they're up to. Happy Sunday!