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Hint: It's always there and hard to keep up with....any guesses?!
Laundry. Everyday. Nonstop.
As a family of five, we don't have "small" loads. Tackling laundry takes several hours. Through the years, I've tried different approaches to overflowing hampers. When our children were toddlers and young elementary students, twice a week I sorted everyone's laundry into different piles — darks, lights, delicates and towels — and completed the laundry in one day. This included folding and putting it all away. Once our children became involved in several activities and sports, it became difficult to find two days a week to do laundry.
About seven or eight years ago, I tried running one load of laundry each day. For example, I'd compile everyone's dark clothes and complete one (sometimes two loads) each day. This was a short-lived strategy because I was always washing and drying clothes. My children didn't like the constant sorting, folding and the putting away of laundry.
For the last several years, I've set Wednesdays and the weekend as my laundry days. Typically on Wednesdays, I wash my husband and my clothes. They are smaller loads so I can usually breeze through all of it in a few hours. On Friday or Saturday, my children will sort their laundry together and I will begin the washing/drying process. It usually takes two days (several starts and stops depending on how busy our weekend is) from start to finish. This means on Monday all their laundry should be clean — clothes for school, dance, sports practices, etc. It's convenient for them to use Sunday evening to plan and set aside what they need for the next five days. My children are old enough that if they need to run a small load mid-week they can handle it on their own. What's your laundry strategy? Do you have certain laundry days or does everyone do their own? “Sometimes I feel like throwing in the towel but that would only mean more laundry for me." - Unknown