The Laundry & I

I'm not getting along well in the laundry department. I am starting to have bitter feelings towards clothes in general. Jeff suggested we stop wearing them altogether since the were upsetting me so much, but I don't think that is such a good solution. Especially this week when it's so cold outside.

My boys love when I fold laundry because it is like a giant pile of leaves to them. That doesn't really make me happy.

I have learned from many days of this that I need to fold laundry when they are asleep. I used to do it after they went to bed, I'd justify watching my favorite shows as laundry folding time. Since I started teaching seminary that time is gone, or very minimized. If I indulge in my shows I am losing more sleep (also not pretty!).

A few weeks ago the boys decided to pull everything formerly organized and folded on their shelves into one giant heap on their floor. This did not make me happy.

I let it sit just like that for nearly two weeks, not able to bring myself to put it back just to have it thrown down again.

When the cousins were here and used it to make a dog house for cousin Hannah who was pretending to be a puppy, I honestly didn't care. It had already been in ruins. Finally I had a rare hour in the house completely alone and I began going through and pulling out all of the stuff that was getting too small, etc and organizing it once more. This was a big process for me again, because I can only do it when alone. I hid it all in the guest room while I sorted. I hung nearly everything on the top so that they couldn't pull piles down anymore. This takes more time, but seems to be worth the effort.

Last night I tackled at least a week's worth of folding again, only to have my kid's piles that were neatly folded and divided into two groups of jammies, pants, shirts that hang, shirts that fold, etc... welcoming me in a wreck on the floor when I came home from seminary. This did not make me happy.

I also figured out yesterday that Lincoln is allergic to the detergent we just bought. He has eczema all over and he hasn't had that problem in a really long time. I've got to REWASH all of his stuff and start all over on the folding process! AAARGH. I am at least glad to know the problem so that I can take good care of him in the future.

I've never struggled too much in this department before... not that I loved it or ever had it perfected, but it never got out of hand really. One rarely had to look outside the closet to find what they needed, so I'm taking suggestions for keeping it in tow.

Any advice?

Lincoln in Charge

One day last week I was having a particularly hard time getting Lincoln to got to bed. He is usually really good about going to bed, but was beyond tired and acting crazy. I had used all of my bag of tricks and was beyond myself at what to do. I stepped back for a minute and decided to turn the tables on him. I walked back in and started talking to him like an adult. I said, "Lincoln, what we are doing here is not working. I am going to need your help. I think you should be in charge tonight because all of the things that need to get done are not getting done. He liked the idea and I told him he needed to fold the laundry and make sure that Jackson didn't get into any trouble.

He headed for the laundry pile and was overwhelmed. He didn't show me that he was though. He confidently squished all of the laundry into as tight and tall a heap as he could. I went in and interrupted him. I told him that I wanted a drink and he needed to get it for me. I told him that I wanted the pink cup. He gladly got up and cheerfully climbed up to get a cup down. The pink one was all the way in the back so he asked if a different one would be ok. I told him I really wanted the pink one and made him work for it. (Am I mean or what?)

He remained cheerful and filled the cup with water. Then he asked me, "mom, when you do the clothes is it like wrapping a present?" He was asking for folding tips. My heart was so softened watching him do the best he could at being in charge.

I asked him if it was hard to be in charge and he said, "yeah, I think you should do it."

Reaffirming, I asked, "So you think I should be in charge?"

"Yes."

"But it wasn't working before, what can we do differently."

"How about I'll be nice and listen." (WHOA)

"Okay, I like that.... what I need you to do now is put on your jammies."

"Okay, but I still don't want to put on my jammies and I'm not going to bed." (well, at least he said it sweetly?...)

It took a little more convincing, but the spirit of the whole thing changed dramatically. I was glad for the learning experience for both of us.