“Inbox zero” is the bane of the digital world, but in the domestic sphere it is “laundry basket zero”. Are you, too, chasing the impossible dream?
I have a dream. A dream where the washing machine is silent. The tumble dryer is still. The airers are folded. The radiators are clear. The doorframe is hanger-free. All the clothes in the house lie peacefully in their correct drawers.
To have a day when I can have a break from the laundry without it beating a hole in my psyche. A day when I can go to bed without that sinking feeling that I haven’t hung the wash out and it’s going to pong in the morning. A day when I can laugh at the children’s bath splashanigans instead of rueing all the towels I have to use to mop up. A day when I no longer deter overnight visitors at all costs because if I have to wash another lot of bedlinen it will break me.
A day when I can wear whatever I like from my wardrobe. As it is, while my family waltz around in spanking clean clothes, I am in my last pair of pants and jeans that could walk to school by themselves.
A few weeks ago, I thought I’d done it. The laundry baskets (I have five – yes, five! – one for each family member), were stacked neatly in a pile. I’d been putting clothes away for 48 hours straight and there wasn’t a pair of school trousers being “ironed” on the radiator to be seen.
And you know what? I didn’t feel a thing. I didn’t feel triumphant. I didn’t feel exultant. I just felt a bit…loose-endy. The day that I have no more washing to do is the day my children no longer live at home.
But before I got too maudlin, I saw it.
My husband’s gym kit stealthily stinking in the washing machine.
And I knew that it was going to be OK. The impossible dream was still just that.
I hear ya! Last few weeks I’ve had to re-wash stuff because it’s gone musty without the heating being on to dry it aaarggh!
I moan about laundry a lot but read a quote the other day along the lines of ‘be lucky you have laundry to do, it means you have clean clothes to wear’ 🙂 x
Oh, the re-wash, yep have done that many a time! I like that quote, so true. x
Ha ha, I totally get this! Washing is a never-ending mission (not that any of my family either realises or acknowledges how much work goes into it), yet on the rare occasions when I don’t have any, I feel a bit lost! Putting clothes away is what I do and if I’m not doing it, I lack purpose!
Sarah MumofThree World recently posted…Hotter Shoes #hotterfeelgoodstyle
Empty laundry baskets make me want to strip beds! Ha ha!
I don’t think I would know what to do if there wasn’t any washing to do. I’m quite sure if start washing clean clothes as it just isn’t a home without the whirl of the washing machine on every day
Candace recently posted…Adding A Little Glam To Our Home
I know what you mean – it’s the mummy radio!
Oh yes, me too! I’ve taken to stashing my husbands shirts behind the immersion heater. So, when I go in there to fetch the day’s ironing, I can’t see his crumpled, stinky shirts. He’s about 7 shirts down so far & has no idea. I’m aiming for 50% lost shirts this year!
O my goodness! I was just saying this to hubby the other day! I will never reach zero because at the Bottom of my laundry basket, crumpled in the bottom is a pre pregnancy dress (that I will not get back into) that is… HAND WASH ONLY. I always pick it up and think, ‘ I’ll do it another time I think.’ It’s been there months!
My husband also uses the Landry basket as a ,’ if I can’t be bothered to put it away now and it just looks messy there.’ Place! I swear I have washed my clean pajamas a hundred times because he doesn’t like them under the pillow!!!
Ha ha, I have one of those hand wash only dresses too, shoved down the side of the washing machine never to be worn again! My husband is exactly the same, too!