Just when is their time in the day to..

[DonnatellaLyman]

Put away the fucking laundry?

I like to think I’m not stupid - I hold down a job, parent 3 kids etc etc but I’m losing the will to live with this.

I have 3 under 6, youngest is 6 months and therefore going through alllll the clothes with weaning and puking etc. I’m on mat leave so should have loads of time but since they’ve all been at home for the holidays I’m drowning in tiny laundered clothes.

The baby is in our room with his and our clothes, older ones clothes live in theirs. If I put any away after bedtime it wakes them up. Feel like once I’ve cleared up after one meal there’s about 5 seconds to do something with them before I have to start cooking the next, plus alllll the bloody breastfeeding.

Does anyone have any tips?

Get the father to do it? Or he does the cooking while you do it?

It doesn't take as long as you think. Under 5 mins per basket.

Yeah we split jobs when he’s not at work, but he gets back either just before or way after bedtime, so it doesn’t solve the problem of waking them up

I've got three preschoolers. We still have their clothes in a big chest of drawers with changing mat on the top in the living room. It makes sense when all children need several changes of clothes a day and you can't leave the others unsupervised to go and get one changed. That means there isn't a problem with DH doing it after the rest of us have gone to bed, but it's also a pretty easy job if I get a minute in the day because children are all nearby and can be watched. At the moment practicality is more important to us than clothes being stored in bedrooms!

I skip ironing and just do it as one consecutive exercise.

I hang the washing on the line in person groupings, so all DDs stuff together, then mine, then DHs. Take it down and fold it as I go so it's in a pile in order then straight upstairs and into the right room. It never sits folded anywhere other than where it should be.

When DS is in the bath. He's 5 so old enough to chat to me in the bedrooms while I put it away.

Thank you, these are excellent life hacks. We haven’t got room in the living room but hanging up by person could work.

It will be a while before the baby can be left in the bath but good tip for the future!

My 2.5 year old loves sorting and putting away clothes! He will sort into piles and knows which boxes his clothes go into (IKEA storage for his rather than drawers). Honestly he thinks it’s a fun activity and was not at all instigated by me!

Only tip I have is to embrace it and move on - oh and make sure everything has a place. My DC are now aged 10-18 (4 of them). Laundry is a constant battle. We all play at least one sport, then add uniforms, work attire, bedding, towels etc into the mix and the washing basket is never empty and I never feel on top of it.