You know the old saying "You never have a second chance to make a first impression". I think this is really a true saying. Psychologists have done tests to show that we make our first impression of a new person within literally a fraction of a second.
The tough thing about that is that you can't control much about what happens in such a brief time frame. If it happens that quickly, it isn't about what you say or what you do particularly. It's entirely based upon your physical appearance - your clothing, your hairstyle or makeup, your posture, and your overall attitude.
Once someone makes this general impression of you, they have decided whether to like you or not and unless you do some pretty drastic to change their mind, that is the way they are always going to think of you. That sounds really harsh, but it seems to be a hardwired thing in the subconscious mind and even if we wanted to behave differently towards people, we probably can't make much of a change in that behavior.
These are pretty much all things you can control to some degree, which means you can have a lot of influence over the way you are perceived and the way people are going to treat you.
I'm sure it's much the same with your house. Your yard, your front door and your entryway are all part of that first impression someone gets when someone comes to your home. Why not go out and look at your house the way a Real Estate agent would look at it? Is there trash in your yard? Do your flower beds need weeding, or your snow and ice need to be removed? Are there kids toys, shoes, or tools by your front door? How long has it been since you swept your front porch?
There are a number of quick and easy fixes you can do to make that first impression a good one, both for your house and for yourself. We just don't think to do them, or we think somehow that people just "won't notice". But I think that's just something we tell ourselves. I think a lot of people do notice, but they are to kind and polite to want to hurt our feelings by telling us.
Sometimes just a few simple changes like a touch of makeup, some inexpensive jewelry, and maybe a slightly nicer top can not only make a difference in the way we look, but also in our attitude and the way we feel about ourselves. I can just hear you now, but I LOVE my comfy sweats, my broken-in jeans and my old worn out shoes. I'm just going to be with the kids all day, why should I bother to put on makeup or jewelry? I know exactly how you feel. I work from home one or two days a week and I know that on those days, I tend to "dress down" a bit from what I would wear into the office.
But wouldn't you know it, those grungy days when you are walking around with unwashed hair, or your husband's old T-shirt on, or pants with a big stain on them, those are the days that you are going to sneak out to the grocery store or the post office and run into someone you weren't expecting to see. Your child's principal, your minister, or someone from your husband's office.
Do you remember Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman? She went into those fancy shops and because she was dressed so poorly, the women felt perfectly entitled to be horribly rude to her. I mean, this is Julia Roberts. Even dressed so poorly, she was a complete knockout with a gorgeous smile and a killer bod, but in the wrong clothes, no one could see her beauty. All they could see was what the clothes were saying.
You just never know. So, even on those stay-at-home days, I still have some minimum standards. I wear a little bit of makeup - at least some mascara and eyeshadow. I may wear more casual clothes, but everything is clean and fits properly. If I notice something is getting too tight, or is too baggy, or needs repairs beyond a safety pin or two out they go. I have a special give-away box in my guest room and they go right in there. Someone else will give them a good home and enjoy them.
So, your challenge today is to take a moment and give a bit of thought to the first impression you would give someone if you just met them today, both for yourself and for your house. Is this an impression you would want to live with, or would you rather make a few quick changes to start off on the right foot?
1/15/09
Upcoming Messy Mom's Classes
For all you New Year's Resolution types, I wanted to announce my next round of Messy Mom's classes. I am going to start off the year with a bang by starting two classes at once. I'm going to start one class on Wednesday nights and the other on Sunday afternoons. These will be taught at my house in Sandy starting on January 14th from 7:00 to 8:30 and the 18th from 3:00 to 4:30 in the afternoon.
To give you a little background on my classes, they are four week sessions that are taught right in my living room. I try to pattern my classes in a way that is similar to the Weight Watcher's format - each week we have a combination of lesson time and time for sharing our experiences. I want to hear what challenges each person has and whether or not they have benefited from the previous week's lessons. That helps me fine-tune the class to provide the most helpful information to you.
The reason I have it as a four week class is to give my students a chance to build on each week's lesson. Let's face it, we've all been down this road before, many of us several times and we have to build up our credibility all over again, both with ourselves and with our families. We've all tried the latest and greatest gimmicks, books, websites, and advice from friends and family to get our darn houses cleaned up! Some methods have been more successful than others, but I don't know many people who have had the opportunity who have been able to attend a live class like this to get ideas from a real person in a way that works for them.
Here is the basic plan for the 4 week class:
Week 1 - Basic daily cleaning routines and your vision for the home you want to create
Week 2 - The easy way to declutter your house and what to get rid of and how
Week 3 - Get your family on board. How to get your family to participate in the daily cleaning process without fussing, arguing and nagging, and how to get them to show more appreciation for your efforts.
Week 4 - Resources to keep you going in the future/Getting your finances in order
The base cost of the class is $50 for the series. I offer small discounts for early payment or for signing up with a friend or relative.
I'm starting a new advertising program, so I am expecting these classes to fill up pretty quickly. If you want to reserve a spot, you'll want to contact me pretty quickly. Click HERE to E-mail me for more info or click the Paypal button to sign up for a class.
To give you a little background on my classes, they are four week sessions that are taught right in my living room. I try to pattern my classes in a way that is similar to the Weight Watcher's format - each week we have a combination of lesson time and time for sharing our experiences. I want to hear what challenges each person has and whether or not they have benefited from the previous week's lessons. That helps me fine-tune the class to provide the most helpful information to you.
The reason I have it as a four week class is to give my students a chance to build on each week's lesson. Let's face it, we've all been down this road before, many of us several times and we have to build up our credibility all over again, both with ourselves and with our families. We've all tried the latest and greatest gimmicks, books, websites, and advice from friends and family to get our darn houses cleaned up! Some methods have been more successful than others, but I don't know many people who have had the opportunity who have been able to attend a live class like this to get ideas from a real person in a way that works for them.
Here is the basic plan for the 4 week class:
Week 1 - Basic daily cleaning routines and your vision for the home you want to create
Week 2 - The easy way to declutter your house and what to get rid of and how
Week 3 - Get your family on board. How to get your family to participate in the daily cleaning process without fussing, arguing and nagging, and how to get them to show more appreciation for your efforts.
Week 4 - Resources to keep you going in the future/Getting your finances in order
The base cost of the class is $50 for the series. I offer small discounts for early payment or for signing up with a friend or relative.
I'm starting a new advertising program, so I am expecting these classes to fill up pretty quickly. If you want to reserve a spot, you'll want to contact me pretty quickly. Click HERE to E-mail me for more info or click the Paypal button to sign up for a class.
1/13/09
Coupon Organization
I have to admit that I've never been a fan of grocery coupons. It seems like every time I've ever used them, I've ended up spending an extra hour and about $50 more than I normally spend. But I know that a lot of people are anxious to save money these days and coupons really are a great time to do that.
But (and this is a BIG but) in order to use coupons effectively, you have to be dedicated and organized about it. I found a fabulous tip today from Mary Hunt at Everyday Cheapskate. I get her newsletter and she always has some great tips to share.
She has a client who uses those plastic sleeves that are designed to hold baseball cards. She has one page for each category of coupons - frozen foods, baby items, etc. And then she just tucks her coupons into the little pockets and carries it in a slim notebook that fits into her grocery basket. Then when she gets to the appropriate section, she can just flip open her notebook and easily see what coupons she has and select the ones she wants to use and transfers those to an envelope at the front of the notebook.
I think that's a fabulous idea. I probably even have some of those sleeves around from when my kids collected baseball cards. Give it a try and let me know how you like it.
But (and this is a BIG but) in order to use coupons effectively, you have to be dedicated and organized about it. I found a fabulous tip today from Mary Hunt at Everyday Cheapskate. I get her newsletter and she always has some great tips to share.
She has a client who uses those plastic sleeves that are designed to hold baseball cards. She has one page for each category of coupons - frozen foods, baby items, etc. And then she just tucks her coupons into the little pockets and carries it in a slim notebook that fits into her grocery basket. Then when she gets to the appropriate section, she can just flip open her notebook and easily see what coupons she has and select the ones she wants to use and transfers those to an envelope at the front of the notebook.
I think that's a fabulous idea. I probably even have some of those sleeves around from when my kids collected baseball cards. Give it a try and let me know how you like it.
The Acorn Choice
Here is a great analogy I found. We all start out as acorns, so we all have the potential to be mighty oak trees. Some of us just think we can only be fatter and shinier acorns, but that is only of interest to pigs.
If we want to fulfill our potential and grow to be oak trees, what do we need to do? Well, we need to be patient, we need to work hard to fulfill our potential to become what we are capable of. And we also need to take care of ourselves. To enjoy the good soil, sunlight, and fresh clean water to enable us to grow strong and healthy. And above all, we need to let go of our indulgent acorn-like behavior. To avoid the overeating, overspending, and the time spent indulging our bad habits and hobbies at the expense of progress towards our goals.
If we want to fulfill our potential and grow to be oak trees, what do we need to do? Well, we need to be patient, we need to work hard to fulfill our potential to become what we are capable of. And we also need to take care of ourselves. To enjoy the good soil, sunlight, and fresh clean water to enable us to grow strong and healthy. And above all, we need to let go of our indulgent acorn-like behavior. To avoid the overeating, overspending, and the time spent indulging our bad habits and hobbies at the expense of progress towards our goals.
1/11/09
Bookshelf Challenge
This is my bookshelf. Well, one of my bookshelves. I'm quite the book lover, so I have a couple of them. But this is where I keep my most favorite books. It looks a little nicer than usual because we're painting the basement and we just repainted this from yucky yellow-y off-white to a plain white. But this is basically how my bookshelf looks most of the time.
Because I love my books, I love an organized bookshelf. I have my books very carefully organized by type, by author, and even by size. This section is all books by my favorite Science Fiction author Anne McCaffrey, so that's why the shelves are double stacked, to fit them all in this section together. Up top are our Time-Life books and some of my mother's books.
The bottom shelves are my other Science Fiction paperbacks, all organized by size and by author. Yes, I know it's a little overkill, but it's worth it when I reach over and find exactly the book I want in seconds. And I get a big charge from seeing them all lined up and looking pretty. Yes, I know there's a bit of a gap there - my son's girlfriend and I are re-reading the Twilight series (again!), so there are a couple of books there.
From an organizational point of view, I did make one mistake. I didn't leave any room for expansion. When I rearrange my other shelf, I'm hoping I'll have some more room on that one and I can shift a few over. Yes I know I could declutter some of them, but I got rid of two big boxes just before we moved last year, so I'm mostly down to the ones I really love. If worse comes to worst and I don't find any extra room in the other shelf, I might be inclined to prune my movie shelf and put a category of books over there. That's one solution when you're really stuck in the decluttering system. If you really can't prune in one particular category, you can always cut back in a different category to compensate.
So, here's your challenge - take a look at your bookshelf (or bookshelves) and see what you need to do with it. Do you need to add more shelves? Weed out some books? Do you have your books organized in some kind of system that makes sense to you or are they just piled in there in every which way? If not, now would be a good time to add some organization to your bookshelf.
Now, here's how you DON'T organize your bookshelf. For the love of little kittens, DON'T take everything out of the bookshelf and dump it all on the floor! I know I did, but that was just because we were painting the shelves. Your best bet is to clear out just ONE shelf. Now pick a category such as business or self-help books. Comb through the rest of the shelves and find any and all books that match this category and shift them all to the clear shelf, weeding out any books that can be decluttered - of course you have a box or two handy to deal with them. Now smoosh the books around to fill up the empty gaps, which will create some space for the next category.
By doing it this way, you can do the change in small increments, a little bit at a time if need be. Even if you need to set it aside for a day or even a week, you can do so without having a huge mess to make you feel terrible about your area.
Because I love my books, I love an organized bookshelf. I have my books very carefully organized by type, by author, and even by size. This section is all books by my favorite Science Fiction author Anne McCaffrey, so that's why the shelves are double stacked, to fit them all in this section together. Up top are our Time-Life books and some of my mother's books.
The bottom shelves are my other Science Fiction paperbacks, all organized by size and by author. Yes, I know it's a little overkill, but it's worth it when I reach over and find exactly the book I want in seconds. And I get a big charge from seeing them all lined up and looking pretty. Yes, I know there's a bit of a gap there - my son's girlfriend and I are re-reading the Twilight series (again!), so there are a couple of books there.
From an organizational point of view, I did make one mistake. I didn't leave any room for expansion. When I rearrange my other shelf, I'm hoping I'll have some more room on that one and I can shift a few over. Yes I know I could declutter some of them, but I got rid of two big boxes just before we moved last year, so I'm mostly down to the ones I really love. If worse comes to worst and I don't find any extra room in the other shelf, I might be inclined to prune my movie shelf and put a category of books over there. That's one solution when you're really stuck in the decluttering system. If you really can't prune in one particular category, you can always cut back in a different category to compensate.
So, here's your challenge - take a look at your bookshelf (or bookshelves) and see what you need to do with it. Do you need to add more shelves? Weed out some books? Do you have your books organized in some kind of system that makes sense to you or are they just piled in there in every which way? If not, now would be a good time to add some organization to your bookshelf.
Now, here's how you DON'T organize your bookshelf. For the love of little kittens, DON'T take everything out of the bookshelf and dump it all on the floor! I know I did, but that was just because we were painting the shelves. Your best bet is to clear out just ONE shelf. Now pick a category such as business or self-help books. Comb through the rest of the shelves and find any and all books that match this category and shift them all to the clear shelf, weeding out any books that can be decluttered - of course you have a box or two handy to deal with them. Now smoosh the books around to fill up the empty gaps, which will create some space for the next category.
By doing it this way, you can do the change in small increments, a little bit at a time if need be. Even if you need to set it aside for a day or even a week, you can do so without having a huge mess to make you feel terrible about your area.
1/10/09
Planner Challenges
OK, I'm going to 'fess up. I am planner challenged. Seriously planner challenged. Over the years I have purchased numerous planners, calendars, electronic organizers, and the like and totally failed at every one of them. I can't figure out if I've got too much going on in my life or too little, but I just don't take well to writing things down on a little calendar and then remembering to check it every day. I've even been to the 2 day Franklin Covey classes that cost a bloody fortune, but I still fell off the wagon after a couple of months.
I think the problem is that my life in some ways is very routine. My job is basically Accounting, so I'm typically doing the same things over and over again month after month. Same thing at home - Scouts is on Thursdays, Karate is on Fridays, stamp class is the 2nd Tuesday of the month. Pretty routine stuff, so I mostly just keep it in my head. Of course that way isn't particularly foolproof, because anything out of the ordinary tends to leak right out of my head somehow. I mean, tomorrow I'm supposed to go to the church at 10:00 and help take down the decorations. Fortunately someone called to remind me tonight because it drifted right out of my head the minute I walked out the church door last Sunday.
I do have one thing that works for me. My Outlook calendar at work. I do love that and it pops up with these little reminders at 15 minutes and then 5 minutes before every meeting or event. Plus you can put recurring events, so if you need to pull a certain report every Friday, you just put in a reminder and it will pop up every Friday without fail. But, unfortunately, that only covers me for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. The rest of the time, my poor brain is on it's own and it's too little to be out there alone....
So, what's a girl to do? Well, I've got a couple of things. One thing is to find a calendar that will fit easily into my purse. The problem with the Outlook calendar, and the calendar hanging on my wall at home is that I don't have them with me all the time. But if I got one of those dimestore calendars that fits neatly into my purse, I'll have it at work, home, and at church. Of course, a PDA or a Blackberry (Crackberry) would be even nicer, but that's out of my budget right now, so I'm sticking to the paper.
Here's the other thing I've found - my new To Do list. Look at this nifty little list I found while prowling the Franklin Covey store trying to get my nerve up to try yet another planner (I didn't!). I actually like To Do lists and I find them very effective, but I don't use them as often as I should. The problem is that I feel kind of weird putting my personal stuff on my work to do lists and vice-versa. This solves the problem quite nicely, I think. It has three separate sections, each with a little tear off pad with a pre-printed list, complete with check boxes. I think the check marks are half the fun of a To Do list anyway.
I've only had it for a couple of days, but already I think it's helping a lot. I had a very productive day at work. I remembered to do a couple of tasks at home that I've been putting off, and I put down several ideas for blog posts on the play section, so I'll be covered for most of next week on posts. I even put a few things on there for myself - like exercise, and leave work on time.
I think the problem is that my life in some ways is very routine. My job is basically Accounting, so I'm typically doing the same things over and over again month after month. Same thing at home - Scouts is on Thursdays, Karate is on Fridays, stamp class is the 2nd Tuesday of the month. Pretty routine stuff, so I mostly just keep it in my head. Of course that way isn't particularly foolproof, because anything out of the ordinary tends to leak right out of my head somehow. I mean, tomorrow I'm supposed to go to the church at 10:00 and help take down the decorations. Fortunately someone called to remind me tonight because it drifted right out of my head the minute I walked out the church door last Sunday.
I do have one thing that works for me. My Outlook calendar at work. I do love that and it pops up with these little reminders at 15 minutes and then 5 minutes before every meeting or event. Plus you can put recurring events, so if you need to pull a certain report every Friday, you just put in a reminder and it will pop up every Friday without fail. But, unfortunately, that only covers me for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. The rest of the time, my poor brain is on it's own and it's too little to be out there alone....
So, what's a girl to do? Well, I've got a couple of things. One thing is to find a calendar that will fit easily into my purse. The problem with the Outlook calendar, and the calendar hanging on my wall at home is that I don't have them with me all the time. But if I got one of those dimestore calendars that fits neatly into my purse, I'll have it at work, home, and at church. Of course, a PDA or a Blackberry (Crackberry) would be even nicer, but that's out of my budget right now, so I'm sticking to the paper.
Here's the other thing I've found - my new To Do list. Look at this nifty little list I found while prowling the Franklin Covey store trying to get my nerve up to try yet another planner (I didn't!). I actually like To Do lists and I find them very effective, but I don't use them as often as I should. The problem is that I feel kind of weird putting my personal stuff on my work to do lists and vice-versa. This solves the problem quite nicely, I think. It has three separate sections, each with a little tear off pad with a pre-printed list, complete with check boxes. I think the check marks are half the fun of a To Do list anyway.
I've only had it for a couple of days, but already I think it's helping a lot. I had a very productive day at work. I remembered to do a couple of tasks at home that I've been putting off, and I put down several ideas for blog posts on the play section, so I'll be covered for most of next week on posts. I even put a few things on there for myself - like exercise, and leave work on time.
What organizational tools do you like best?
1/7/09
Laundry Tips - Tackling Mount Washmore
Keeping on top of the laundry pile is one of the biggest challenges in managing a house. The problem is that it never stays done. Your family is generating new laundry every single day, so it can get away from you pretty quickly if you don't have a plan for dealing with it.
The first thing you need to look at is the room itself. If your laundry room is clean and attractive, you're going to dread going out there. Take a few minutes and look around to see what you can do to make it more comfortable, efficient, and attractive. If it's out in the garage, can you add some rugs so you don't have to walk over the cold concrete? Do you need some shelves to store your soap and other laundry supplies in a more convenient spot? Maybe a table or a counter to fold the laundry? Maybe you could add an under the cabinet radio or a small TV to entertain you while you are folding laundry. Use your imagination.
Maybe the solution is as simple as a coat of fresh paint, and some pretty pictures on the wall. I know you're thinking it's just a laundry room and you'll probably be the only one to see it, but you're just as important as anyone else, aren't you? Have fun with it. You could decorate it in frogs, or chickens, or whatever you like best. You're probably going to be spending more time in there than anyone else, so let it be a fun place for you to go.
Next you need to look at your laundry routine. You'll need to adjust this to suit the size of your family and your schedule. Some women prefer to do one or more loads a day, while others like to dedicate an entire day and get it all out of the way at once. Either one works as long as you keep some kind of regular schedule. What doesn't work is ignoring it until every laundry basket in the house is overflowing. That's what Flylady calls Mount Washmore! Avoid at all costs....
I try to do the one load a day schedule, but I get busy and fall down on the job sometimes. Also, I have my boys do their own laundry. I feel that any child over the age of six is old enough to do their own, but that's just my opinion. My son Blake is an expert at the art of Japanese T-shirt Folding - you can find videos of it on YouTube.
How you organize the laundry collection and sorting can make a big difference. If you're seeing clothes on the floor very frequently, you may not have enough baskets or may not have them in the correct places. I keep a basket is everyone's closet including a triple-sort basket in our bedroom - similar to this one. One section is for darks, one for towels and sheet and one for lights. I love this because I can just grab a section of laundry and pop it into the washer without sorting.
Side note: Our washer leaks - a lot! There's something wrong with the connection that goes into the wall and the hose comes out a lot. We've probably had five or six leaks in the year or so since we've lived in this house. So, I finally made my husband go out and buy one of these. I'll tell you, it's the BEST $15 we've ever spent! When you consider how much damage even a small water leak can do, I don't think any home should be without a water alarm.
Anyway, back to laundry. We've got the laundry sorted and into the washer. The washing and drying parts are pretty easy because the machines do all the work. It's the folding and putting away that is the challenge. I'll let you in on a secret - I HATE to put laundry away. It's probably my least favorite chore after mopping the floors. So, rather than be a martyr and do a job I hate, I trade it off to someone else who doesn't mind it so much - in this case, my husband. He doesn't mind it, so I do all the other steps if he just does this one. Hey, it works for us.
As for the folding, I like to do it in front of the TV, 3 or 4 loads at a time. I get on the coach with baskets spread all around me and just dump it all on the couch. I use one basket for each person and an extra one for sheets and towels.
Have you ever timed how long it takes to fold a load of laundry? You'd probably be surprised. I can fold a load in 3 to 5 minutes unless it's something like socks or dressy clothes that need to go on hangers. My philosophy is that if something takes less than 5 minutes to do, it's just not worth fussing about. Same thing with putting away. We spend more time dreading the task than it actually takes to do. Just do it and then treat yourself to a cookie or something for a reward.
Other bright ideas - keep a bag or box in your laundry room for give away or out of season items. Then as your kids outgrow their clothes, you can transition them to charity or to off-season storage.
Tide to Go Pens are the greatest invention known to man. Get a bunch of them and keep them around the house - in your purse, closet, bathroom, etc. for instant stain treatments.
Keep a delicates bag handy for bras and other delicate items and I post large notes on the dryer so my kids don't ever put them in the dryer. I also have a wardrobe rack to hang up sweaters or other items that are too delicate for the dryer.
I got this idea from MeckMom - put in a couple of hooks, either in your bathroom or laundry room for kids to hang up their wet bathing suits and towels. I don't know how many times I've found a nasty wet suit lying around somewhere - ugh!
The first thing you need to look at is the room itself. If your laundry room is clean and attractive, you're going to dread going out there. Take a few minutes and look around to see what you can do to make it more comfortable, efficient, and attractive. If it's out in the garage, can you add some rugs so you don't have to walk over the cold concrete? Do you need some shelves to store your soap and other laundry supplies in a more convenient spot? Maybe a table or a counter to fold the laundry? Maybe you could add an under the cabinet radio or a small TV to entertain you while you are folding laundry. Use your imagination.
Maybe the solution is as simple as a coat of fresh paint, and some pretty pictures on the wall. I know you're thinking it's just a laundry room and you'll probably be the only one to see it, but you're just as important as anyone else, aren't you? Have fun with it. You could decorate it in frogs, or chickens, or whatever you like best. You're probably going to be spending more time in there than anyone else, so let it be a fun place for you to go.
Next you need to look at your laundry routine. You'll need to adjust this to suit the size of your family and your schedule. Some women prefer to do one or more loads a day, while others like to dedicate an entire day and get it all out of the way at once. Either one works as long as you keep some kind of regular schedule. What doesn't work is ignoring it until every laundry basket in the house is overflowing. That's what Flylady calls Mount Washmore! Avoid at all costs....
I try to do the one load a day schedule, but I get busy and fall down on the job sometimes. Also, I have my boys do their own laundry. I feel that any child over the age of six is old enough to do their own, but that's just my opinion. My son Blake is an expert at the art of Japanese T-shirt Folding - you can find videos of it on YouTube.
How you organize the laundry collection and sorting can make a big difference. If you're seeing clothes on the floor very frequently, you may not have enough baskets or may not have them in the correct places. I keep a basket is everyone's closet including a triple-sort basket in our bedroom - similar to this one. One section is for darks, one for towels and sheet and one for lights. I love this because I can just grab a section of laundry and pop it into the washer without sorting.
Side note: Our washer leaks - a lot! There's something wrong with the connection that goes into the wall and the hose comes out a lot. We've probably had five or six leaks in the year or so since we've lived in this house. So, I finally made my husband go out and buy one of these. I'll tell you, it's the BEST $15 we've ever spent! When you consider how much damage even a small water leak can do, I don't think any home should be without a water alarm.
Anyway, back to laundry. We've got the laundry sorted and into the washer. The washing and drying parts are pretty easy because the machines do all the work. It's the folding and putting away that is the challenge. I'll let you in on a secret - I HATE to put laundry away. It's probably my least favorite chore after mopping the floors. So, rather than be a martyr and do a job I hate, I trade it off to someone else who doesn't mind it so much - in this case, my husband. He doesn't mind it, so I do all the other steps if he just does this one. Hey, it works for us.
As for the folding, I like to do it in front of the TV, 3 or 4 loads at a time. I get on the coach with baskets spread all around me and just dump it all on the couch. I use one basket for each person and an extra one for sheets and towels.
Have you ever timed how long it takes to fold a load of laundry? You'd probably be surprised. I can fold a load in 3 to 5 minutes unless it's something like socks or dressy clothes that need to go on hangers. My philosophy is that if something takes less than 5 minutes to do, it's just not worth fussing about. Same thing with putting away. We spend more time dreading the task than it actually takes to do. Just do it and then treat yourself to a cookie or something for a reward.
Other bright ideas - keep a bag or box in your laundry room for give away or out of season items. Then as your kids outgrow their clothes, you can transition them to charity or to off-season storage.
Tide to Go Pens are the greatest invention known to man. Get a bunch of them and keep them around the house - in your purse, closet, bathroom, etc. for instant stain treatments.
Keep a delicates bag handy for bras and other delicate items and I post large notes on the dryer so my kids don't ever put them in the dryer. I also have a wardrobe rack to hang up sweaters or other items that are too delicate for the dryer.
I got this idea from MeckMom - put in a couple of hooks, either in your bathroom or laundry room for kids to hang up their wet bathing suits and towels. I don't know how many times I've found a nasty wet suit lying around somewhere - ugh!
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