When will washing clothes end!!!!

[Hannabee123]

I have next to no energy and so much to do.
I washed 2 bin bags worth of baby clothes / blankets and so on... since then I've had my mother in law come and ditch more blankets more clothes and now my friends are guilty of it!!
She has more clothes than me and my partner put together! It seems just when I catch up and can catch a breath I have people hoarding more clothes on me!!

Probably sounding awfully ungrateful... I'm not but it just seems never ending and a massive task

I just washed the things I liked, and a massive stack of sleep suits and baby grows (mine was mainly handmedowns) - the rest got left in a big plastic box or two, and whenever he started growing out of stuff I'd go and have a rummage and pull out the next batch of stuff I liked.

You don't have to use everything, sounds like you have way more than you'll need, so you can be choosy.

1. Check if the giver wants stuff back or not.
2. Go through the bag and sort into 'i like it/i don't want it'.
3. If the giver doesn't want it back, charity shop the stuff you don't want (i'd check itvwas in good condition first).
4. If the giver does want it back and you have got so much already, put it in a carrier bag and with a permant marker write 'from X' across it. Shove it under a bed and hand back after a year. I dud this wuth some clothes to save embarassment.
5. I had a small chest of 3 drawers: babygros, tops/cardies, bottoms+socks. Newborn 0-3mo i kept separately and lo! DS was a whopper and went straight into 3-6mo stuff. So the 0-3mo went straight back to the person/charity shop.
6. Start saying 'how thoughtful, thank you, but we have more than enough already, and no storage left' type things.

Fwiw i have never washed more than 1 load per day and don't wash every day or have a tumble drier. There are 3 of us in the house, one is a 6yo who loves puddles, mud, climbing trees and rolling round the floor with the dog.

I think it's a case of adjusting. Worse case scenario for me was DD waking up Xmas Day to find DD had a sickness bug so washing machine was on a couple of times a day. By the time in-laws arrived Boxing Day I had clothes and bedding drying everywhere (no tumble dryer) - they sat there eating their tea with bedding draped across the back of their chairs!

No disposable nappies and no washing machine when I had 2 under two's.

I actually think it became harder when I had a washing machine and 2 teenagers.

No one wants any of the clothes back they have just been abandoned with me. I might sort through the draws and start pulling things out because I think there is way too much. As I said I have 4 draws full of newborn stuff alone. Probably have over 30 sleepsuits alone

Never knew everyone would abandon their stuff on me like it's nothing

Having a DD of 22 months and a newborn means thanks to my tumble dryer this quarter’s electricity bill will probably equal the national debt of Greece or something

I hardly ever had to change my baby's clothes more then once a day (once the doctors had fixed her condition that caused her to projectile vomit after every feed) so I had waaaaaay too many clothes for her that she'd grow out of before wearing. She didn't vomit much and her nappies barely leaked. Maybe I was lucky but I certainly didn't get the washing Armageddon I'd expected. My clothes got a lot dirtier once I started weaning her though!

Also, off topic for OP but I found it such a useful tip: it's always worth washing & drying brand new baby clothes before the first wear purely because they often shrink a bit the first time. If you wait until the unwashed brand new clothes fit your baby, they may no longer fit after they've been worn and washed. Washing everything first gives you an idea of the true size.

I hate washing clothes. It's never bloody ending and it's one of those jobs (like cleaning the house) that no one notices unless you don't do it.

I intend to teach my two do do theirs themself as soon as possible! I want to have no part in it by the time they're 13 - sooner if possible!