Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Laundry

Of all things to talk about, the discussion on an e-group I belong to centered around laundry for a few days. Ladies shared how they do laundry and keep track of their children's clothes. I learned a few things like how to use vinegar as a fabric softener and using different colored socks for each child (one color for each). So to totally bore you with the subject here's what we've been doing to keep track of the kids' clothes.

We use the dot system to help sort the girls clothes- one dot for Eve, two for Marie, three for Sara, etc. It came in handy when my Mom came to visit after Laura was born and she was folding clothes. After the girls explained the dots Mom knew what pile to put the clothes in. We also try to keep their outfits to only five each, except Laura. This cut down on the amount of laundry considerably. We've also been folding our shirts for the past two years this way. Try it! It's pretty cool. The littler girls don't fold their clothes but roll them. They fit better in the dresser drawers but also allow the girls to see what is available to wear without having to mess up all the clothes in the drawer. I tried several times to get a shot of Debbie rolling her shirts but she is so fast I only ever got the end. So here are pics of Debbie and her shirt and pant drawers. I also took a picture to show how all of Laura's clothes fit into one drawer. She has more than five outfits because babies are always spilling and getting dirty.
To roll shirts we just fold them in half (so the sleeves are together) and roll from the neck down to the bottom hem. Pants are folded in half so the legs are together and then rolled from the top down. So easy my 3 year old can do it!

5 comments:

athena said...

thanks for the pics! i've been loving the ideas for folding, laundry and vinegar use too.

Vanessa and Rebecca said...

Ahhhh what different lives we lead. My kids stuff doesn't have a dresser and no matter how many times we fold it the kids will inevitably try to "dress up" in something else during the day. So not only is it NOT folded but it is sitting in a basket in their closet along with all the clothes from this past year that they don't fit into anymore... also Debbie doesn't get messy? Megan and Spence are so dirty at the end of the day, usually in their second outfit.

Montserrat said...

Debbie hates to get dirty. Whenever she is doing something that is slightly messy she runs to put on an apron. Laura likes to get in her drawer and mess it up but Debbie is more than happy to roll everything back up again. I think she feels like one of the BIG girls when she does.

Anonymous said...

Wow, I wish I had a Debbie! :-) Thanks for sharing your tips and tricks. I've been back on MomEd for about a week now (with a new baby I have more time again during nursing times to study and read e-mail) and I've been REALLY enjoying reading about laundry considering OUR laundry is completely out of control and has been since the baby was born. I wonder if I'll EVER get it together again. You and your family are truly inspirational!!

Julie Lybbert

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the pictures - I loved the link to the Japanese video - and even understood part of it. It was so fast I could hardly follow it, but will test it myself. Mary