Laundry doesn’t do itself, but that doesn’t mean I do it either.

This morning started per usual: I got up at 6:55, Mack got up at 7, I packed her lunch while she ate breakfast wearing a Godzilla snuggie, I made a Shakeology for myself, and we both went upstairs to change into our respective clothing.  While we were upstairs, Mack shouted, “Mommy, come here.  I have something for you.”  Usually this means she has a surprise hug or kiss waiting for me, so I went down the hall to find out she had pulled out her laundry hamper for me. 

To say that we have rules in our house would be misleading.  Rules give an indication that there are negative repercussions for things or there are really strict guidelines.  Other than not saying the words “stupid” or “hate”, we tend to follow recommendations of what to do (and what not to do). Where we lack in rules, we definitely make up for in recommendations.  One of those recommendations is that if you are able-bodied enough to drag your hamper to the hallway, you are able-bodied enough to do your own laundry.  As such, everyone in my household does their OWN laundry.  People ask how I have time to do things – well, sometimes it’s because I’m only responsible for my own laundry. 

My husband is 43.  In theory, this means he has three years more experience in laundry than I do, but we all know that isn’t necessarily the case.  Nonetheless, I do not do his laundry.  He has his own hamper, and when he’s out of clothes he has to do them.  That might mean we have a pile of clean laundry on our bedroom floor for a while until he puts them away, but I’m willing to live with that since 1) I am not often giving tours of our bedroom and, 2) I had to do zero work to accomplish this task for him.  If he needs the clothes to be wrinkle-free, he knows how to put them away right after they come out of the dryer.

Mack is treated with the same respect.  She is nine, she knows how to use the washer and dryer, and she knows how to put all her clothes away neatly.  This is borne out of a need for her to learn responsibility and also out of my need to NOT do other people’s laundry.  Mack does hers once a week, I do mine every 10-14 days, and Josh is a mystery that is totally dependent upon which shirts he needs clean. 

Now, back to this morning.  While Mack understands her laundry is her responsibility, she tends to be more pitiful in the mornings and tries to take advantage of that.  Meanwhile, I loathe mornings as much as she does so I rarely cave to any level of pitifulness.  I informed her I was thankful she had prepared her laundry so efficiently and instructed her that when she takes it downstairs and starts the washer, I might be so inclined to move them to the dryer for her during the day so she can put them away when she gets home.  Begrudgingly, she thanked me and did so.  Now I get to look forward to the time SAVED by not putting her laundry away later.  Maybe I’ll do some pottery at that time.  Maybe I’ll crochet an alpaca.  The point is, I’m not doing it and she understands what a time suck it is and will be more gracious with me the next time I do endeavor to help her with something.  It’s a win-win. 

Also, you might be asking how I get away with NOT doing my husband’s laundry.  The answer is I never started that.  I have found doing those things randomly leads to expectations, and that’s not anything I need to set for myself or others.  The only times we do laundry for one another is when we lose a bet, and even then the bet is usually something like, “you have to put your laundry away as soon as you take it out of the dryer…for a month.”  You’d be amazed how few bets your spouse takes when you make bets like that.

Well, we’re here so I guess we should figure out what to do…

Hi there!  My name is Lindsay and I have a busy life.  I mean, we all have busy lives right?  It doesn’t matter if you have five kids, one kid, zero kids, one plant that never seems to have enough water…we all have busy lives.  What we don’t have a lot of, perceptually, is time.  The last time I checked, the Earth rotates normally and we all end up with 24 hours a day to accomplish what we want (and for me, at least eight of those are sleeping, so that starts me behind a bit).  We all go to bed with aspirations of productivity the next day and then we wake up and the day has its own aspirations. 

Setting the stage: I have one child (a nine-year old girl), one husband, and one cat.  I have a full-time job managing 12 people who are dispersed across the country, my company is based in Dallas, and I live in Ohio.  I work from home, which affords me some abilities to be more efficient with my day, but working from home does not equate to me goofing off; if anything it means I accomplish MORE with my day but utilize my time differently.  As such, there may be times when you say, “Lindsay, don’t be ridiculous.  Those of us who have to go into an office/school/hospital/etc. don’t have time to do what you do.”  To that I say, “pffht”.  I worked in an office for years prior to working from home, so I get it.

We all have time to fit it all in – being a parent, a productive worker bee, an athlete, a student, etc. (and we can do all of those if we want to!)  But how we manage our time and what we choose to be most important for each moment are what define our accomplishments (or lack thereof) for the day.  We make so many little choices during the day that we don’t even realize we’re making.  Are we sitting on the couch to watch television, or are we walking on a treadmill while we do that?  Are we all sitting on various seating locations using technology, or are we engaging with other people in some way? How can we better utilize our time to fit in the things we WANT to do with the things that have become habit (or things we feel OBLIGATED to do)?

I have never been a blogger, and I don’t aspire to do anything with this other than share some stories, maybe make some laughs, and hopefully help some other folks with how to better organize their lives.  On an average day I make time to workout, put my daughter on the bus, work a full day, run outside, spend time with my family, and do at least one craft (crochet, pottery, or planning world domination).  Then I sleep for eight hours.  That is an average day, and it all works.  I don’t go to bed stressed out or feel like I missed out on something.  The key is my statement that I “make time” to do these things.  I structure my day such that I can FIT IT ALL IN.

Tell me your stories, your challenges, your jokes, and share pictures of what you do to help others organize themselves!