Things to Consider When You Are Sick of Doing Laundry

Post Updated: August 22, 2016

There are a number of things all of us would like to consider when contemplating our family’s laundry – investing in disposable clothes, burning the never-finished, unending piles of dirty clothes that inhabit our laundry rooms and hampers, going on strike…. Whether we do laundry for a family of 8 or only do our own, laundry is a chore that is not going away. Here are some Things to Consider When You are Sick of Doing Laundry.

Making the Laundry Process Smoother

I don’t run the smoothest laundry room in the world, but I have managed to teach my children to bring their laundry to the laundry room and sort it. I don’t mind running it through the washer and dryer and folding it, but if they don’t bring it to me, it’s not getting washed. I try to have compassion for the 10:30 at night panic attack when an item that is needed at 8 in the morning is brought to me in need of immediate washing. It does not make me happy, but I try to insert some compassion in the situation. I will get it in the washer before I go to bed and put it in the dryer in the morning, but if it is still damp at 8, that is where all of my patience and understanding ends.They are also required to return their clean and folded laundry to their rooms at the end of the process. If you are overwhelmed with laundry, up the expectations for help from the other dirty-laundry-producing members of your family.

Do Something to Make the Laundry Process Fun

Yes, fun. I make it fun by rewarding myself at the end of the day with Netflix or Amazon while I fold. I run the laundry through the washer and dryer in the day and then, in the evenings, I sit myself down on the couch, turn on something fun to watch, and fold the clothes. It makes it not so bad. Really. (And if you have not watched “Stranger Things” on Netflix, grab some laundry and get to watching.)

Count your Laundry Blessings

If I am still completely unmotivated to keep that wash spinnin’, I go back to a photograph. A photograph of women doing laundry in Guatemala. A visual reminder of how blessed I truly am. I have spent some time pondering the women in the picture. I wonder if they like doing laundry. Some of them, I have learned from visiting with them in the missionary medical clinics we offer, are doing laundry as their occupation. I wonder if they look forward to going to the “laundromat” and visiting with the other women. I know their backs, necks, and feet hurt from hauling it to and from the laundry centers. I know they hurt because they tell us they hurt.

I share this story not to pass out guilt. It is something I have seen that brings gratitude into my life. Gratitude for all the clothes we have, gratitude for the now-aging front-loading washing machine that I was so excited to get 12 years ago and for the dryer that does not match. (This dryer was bought to replace the fancy dryer that matched the front-loading washer after some very costly repairs. “Haul it away,” I said, after being told it need another pricey repair! I can afford to buy a new non-fancy dryer every 3 years for what it is costing me to maintain this one!) I am also grateful for my nice cushy couch and my tv and Netflix subscription and a full roof to sit under while I fold.

If you are sick of the laundry, every mom, everywhere, can relate. It absolutely becomes overwhelming at times. If you need help, don’t be afraid to ask your family. If you need to change your routine to make the job more bearable, do it. If you need encouragement that you are not alone in this task, you have it. I do laundry almost every day. I’m counting my blessings, but I’m still doing laundry! Wash on, girlfriend!

Comment below with your ideas for making laundry an easier task.

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