Hey, babe, if you need me, and you called a bunch of times and texted and said that nobody can seem to find me because I’ve seemingly disappeared off the face of this earth, then I’m probably just buried under a pile of laundry somewhere in this house.
Please check under the 10-foot-tall mound composed of several layers of baby clothes, bath towels, and 15 pairs of stretchy black leggings.
I was reading through some old journals from college and my early 20s the other day, and I was constantly talking about how I had laundry to do, but back then it was single girl bachelorette laundry, and I’d bring a duffel bag with one or two loads in it to the laundromat across the street, and that was it. It would be like, “OH! I gotta waste two hours doing laundry,” but now that I live with three little animals — a very fluffy cat, a toddler who loves decorating herself and her clothes with food and/or crayons, and El Hub, of course — the laundry is next level, and it runs my world! I can’t escape it.
And even though it’s like I’m always doing laundry, and the washing machine runs almost 24/7 sometimes, I can never get ahead on it, which is totally weird.
I used to save it all for Saturdays, but then I’d be kinda grumpy because I was doing laundry all weekend long, so I switched to doing a load every day during the workweek, but that hasn’t made it any easier. I think it may have actually resulted in even MORE laundry. The laundry’s multiplying, LOL!
There’s always hand towels, bath towels, blankets, so many stinky socks, baby leggings covered in dried yogurt, my shirts, which are always covered in cat fur. It a never ends…
I mean, I’m not complaining… Actually, yes I am. I’m totally complaining, haha! 🙂
I’m lucky to have a working washer and dryer in the house, and I’m grateful that I don’t have to go down to a river and wash things on rocks, which is what my mom says she had to do when she was young, so I guess this is a good problem to have… But it just never ends, ahhh! As we speak, there’s a load in the washer and another one waiting in my room.
If you need me, I’ll be under an avalanche of mismatched socks.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Jewel says
Haha yes so true!!!!!!!!!! I just did it and now it BACK!!! ?
Jewel says
Haha yes so true!!!!!!!!!! I just did it and now it’s BACK!!! ?
Karen says
LOL, Jewel! Seriously, it never ends! WHY?! HOW?
MichelleC says
yeah, somedays it’s like Gremlins. Don’t add water or feed them after midnight. Bad things happen!
Karen says
Haha, Michelle! It feels that way sometimes!
Happy Friday to you. 🙂
Rachel says
I’m just a single gal so I don’t have as much as you but I’ve taken to doing a few loads during the week so that my weekend is ruined by laundry!
Karen says
I miss single girl laundry, Rachel! Ahh, back when I had just a handful of towels… Now it’s like I’m doing laundry for all the Bed Bath & Beyond stores in the world. LOL
Hope you’re having a good day so far. Got any plans for the weekend (hopefully not involving laundry).
Rachel says
I will not be doing laundry this weekend! I am going to do some hardcore relaxing and maybe repotting some of my indoor plants. Since it seems like spring will never come here, I need to get my hands in the dirt somehow!
Amy says
I’m always shocked by how much laundry three people can produce. And how can a baby’s tiny clothes add so much laundry to the pile?? All I can say is, don’t be afraid to NOT fold half the stuff for a few years! It gets better when they hit upper grade school. They can learn to do it themselves pretty quickly. 🙂
Karen says
Hi Amy,
ME TOO. How? Why? It’s not like I’m wearing eight layers of clothing when I go to the grocery store, or we’re doing multiple outfit changes like in a Beyonce video.
So with me, I end up folding everything but then not putting it away. It sits in the same basket for weeks! I’ve had clean towels in a basket in my bedroom for two weeks now. SIGH.
Amy says
P.S. Your couch looks like it’s holding up well!
Karen says
Aww, thanks! The Sunbrella fabric is so great. There’s been a couple incidents with chocolate and cat barf (separate occasions!) and all I’ve had to do is unzip, throw into the washer and then the dryer. Slipcovers are so life changing.
Denise says
I will be in the same boat tomorrow, when I start doing the laundry for the three of us (me, my husband and daughter). I just arrived home today from a two week holiday in California. We went to Disneyland and San Diego and a cruise home to Vancouver, BC from San Diego. 🙂
Karen says
Hi Denise,
Oh how fun! I love Disneyland and can’t wait to take Connor. 🙂
What was your favorite part of vacation?
Good luck getting the laundry done… Hope it goes by quick!
Chryztyners says
Can I do your laundry in exchange for free makeup? ? Lol.
Your mom is right, though. Because here in the Philippines, not everyone has a washer and dryer. Imagine, handwashing everything! Oh well, laundry is life.
Karen says
I can’t! I used to do some handwashing but don’t have the patience for that anymore. Laundry IS life.
shin ae says
I am so grateful for my washer and dryer, too! Early in our marriage, we rented a couple places that didn’t have a washer and dryer. It was so difficult to carry everything up and down flights of stairs, to the car, in and out of the laundromat, and oh! I was pregnant, so, UGH. Owning the appliances is such a luxury and I’m grateful.
But the work is never done. NEVER.
Karen says
Seriously, me too. I did so many loads of laundry in laundrymats for years. Even though it’s tedious being able to easily throw a load in while I’m making dinner really a luxury.
Melissa says
Our first apartment HAD to have a washer/dryer – it was not negotiable. I work odd hours so it’s not unusual for me to toss a load in at 10 pm. I’m appalled at how much laundry just 2 people create
Karen says
Hi Melissa,
Yes! How is it even possible? I feel like I don’t really wear THAT many clothes, either. Just the same old black stretchy pants and tee shirts!
TravelingBlush says
I hang stuff out in the sun and re-wear them. After a whole day out in the sun, clothes don’t stink, kinda fresh actually. Only work clothes and panties get worn once. I hang to dry, less ironing that way, too. But I live in a tropical climate so this works. I don’t fold undies. They just get tossed in a drawer, one for panties and one for bras. I dont want to spend more than absolutely necessary for laundry and the likes.
Karen says
I wish I could do that! I would love to air out clothes but right now it’s spring so pollen is flying everywhere. I’d be a sneezing mess if I left my clothes out to dry.
Kim says
Oh, I hear you 100%. We are terrible about having folded clothes in baskets and piles. Then the kids just grab and you can’t tell what’s clean and what’s not. They also have never heard of hanging a towel (well, they HEAR about it every day) so used towels are on the floors and on their beds. We’re trapped under laundry, dust and cat hair. HAHA! The upside is that Connor always looks adorable so, washing all those outfits is worth it. 🙂
Karen says
OH MY GOD. As we speak I have at least three piles of folded laundry that needs to be put away. I actually don’t mind the folding if I can do it while I’m watching a show, it’s the act of putting stuff away that for some reason takes way too long when I do it. SIGH.
I saw something about towels on a design blog that I’ve been thinking of doing to alleviate the hanging towel situation: instead of having horizontal towel bars, install pegs in the walls to hang towels! That way they never look haphazard when they’re hanging, plus it’s so much easier to just throw something on a peg. I would do it but our bathrooms are straight outta 1973 so part of me is like, “Eh, why bother?”
Jen says
I use command hooks for bath towels, the brushed nickel style. After my shower I lay my towel out on my bed so it mostly dries while I get ready then I hang it on the hook in the bathroom. I also use a command hook on the back of the bathroom door for my husband’s hand towel- he somehow gets hand towels really wet (larger hands?) so he gets his own.
Suzanne C says
I know what you mean. To make it worse, we bought an energy-efficient washer when we moved and apparently energy-efficient = incredibly slow. It takes over an hour to wash one load. And I keep finding tiny clothes in my laundry, which is odd because the owners of said tiny clothes don’t live here.
Barb says
I totally hear you! Laundry is never ending in our household. I’m doing a few loads at least every other day during the week and pretty much all weekend.
Happy Friday! Hope you have a great weekend!
Amalia says
Same here! Can you even imagine how many laundry can produce five humans plus: clothing, and uniforms for veterinarians and student of animal science and aquaculture. And you know the hidden truth: laundry’s multiplying!!!! As for past years, when women were washing clothes into the rivers, it was completely different. Very hard times and life, but with less outfits, one or two clothes for special occasions, they had not fallen into the trap of over-consumption and hoarding. By the way, I need to take out and re-reading Marie Kondo book… LOL! Big hugs from Greece and please ignore my bad english!