Home economics: Laundry

If you know someone who is considering having a baby, perhaps you should send them a link to this post. Just to warn them. (But babies are absolutely worth it!)

Here's what greeted me this morning:

I'm sorry this picture is out of focus. The other day I thought, "I should shoot everything in manual." So I have been, but I'm sadly out of practice.

And wait, there's more:

(Laundry not pictured: more in the dryer, more accumulated while I was folding this laundry, and then all the diapers.)

This is the reality of living with four other people, three of whom are little kids.

For Elin, there's all the receiving blankets, onesies, tiny socks, outfits, sleepsacks, jammies, burpies, sheets, bibs, and anything that got spit on.

For Svea, there's small socks, camis, training pants, numerous changes of clothing, and lots of jammies.

For Viggo, there's medium socks, undershirts, undies, school clothes, clothes to wear at home, jammies, dirty jackets and gloves, his beloved Peterson jersey, and anything that got dirt/markers/ketchup on it.

And then there's all of our own clothes, plus unmentionables hardly worth mentioning, and, because I use as many washable things as possible, there's also napkins, bar towels for the kitchen, microfiber towels for messes, hankies and other assorted washable whatevers.

I have issues with buying things to use once and then pitch. To me it feels like I'm throwing cash directly into the garbage can. I would like to say I avoid paper towels and paper napkins because I am concerned about the environment. While I am definitely all for a healthier planet, the truth is, I am also an advocate for a healthier wallet (my own!). Did you know, I am still working my way through a 15-pack of paper towels I bought at Sam's? I bought that pack over 3 years ago. It moved out here with us. We only use paper towels for nuking bacon and the absolute most disgusting messes.

While I folded this morning, Svea ran around pretending to be a horse. She was listening to a children's CD by Tom Chapin, and her favorite song from there involves a yodeling cowboy and a horse named "Homesick". That definitely makes folding laundry more fun!

I am thinking of applying to TLC to have our own reality show because it seems that the families on there have people that come and do their laundry for them.

I finally have all the ingredients to make my own detergent, so I hope to post that recipe and process in the next day or two. I am not making this up. I have a 5-gallon bucket waiting for me in the kitchen, and I finally tracked down the Fels-Naptha.

See you in the laundry room!