May is for Moms and Margaritas!!! Yay for May!!! A new month means new calendar pictures and a new post in the Everyday Organizing for Busy Moms series.
I mentioned this on Instagram stories last week, but May is one of those months that just seems to FLY by without even realizing it. Between end of the year school stuff, end of season sports stuff, and just regular life it often feels like a whirlwind! Keeping up with everyday chores like laundry and dishes might not seem like a big deal, but I've found that not keeping up with it is when you really get into trouble. This topic is really not exciting at all, but I thought I'd share a little about how I keep up with the laundry and dishes in the hopes that even one of these tips might help one of you.
Laundry
1. I know some people like to wait and do all the laundry in one day, but I'm not one of those people. I have found that doing at least one load everyday is best for my family.
2. In most cases, I wash everyone's clothes separately meaning I don't wash two of my kids clothes together. This makes it so much easier for folding and putting away because I don't have to figure out who's socks are who's and which pair of shorts belongs to which kid.
3. When I fold clothes I always listen to an audio book. I despise folding and putting away clothes, but when I'm listening to a book I hardly realize that I'm doing it and it makes the time go by so much faster.
4. Speaking folding and putting away, I only put away mine and the Mr.'s. I'm happy to do my kids laundry for them, but they each put it away and have been doing so since a really young age. I have several laundry baskets so I put each person's clothes in their own basket and usually place it outside their bedroom door during the day. The rule in my house is you have to put it away sometime that day (before bed). If I don't enforce that they just keep the basket full of clothes in their room and dig through it when they are looking for something to wear. Plus, I need the baskets back for the next round of laundry.
5. Make your washer work for you when you aren't around. I always set it to run when I'm doing something else or when I'm about to leave the house to run errands so I'm not sitting around waiting on it to finish. Then when I get home I can throw things in the dryer. Also, most newer washers have a delayed wash setting. I love this feature! If I don't want wet clothes sitting in the washer for hours I can time when I will be back home and set it on a delayed start so it is done right before I will be getting home. Sometimes I will also set it to begin during the night so it is done first thing in the morning and I can toss things in the dryer when I get up.
6. There are a lot of items that I don't put in the dryer and instead air dry. I used to find all sorts of crazy places to lay them to dry and then I got really smart and spent about $20 on THIS drying rack. Why I hadn't done this before is beyond me, but my girls and I keep this thing in constant use. I lay items like swimsuits, sports bras, Lululemon, and other items I don't want to worry about shrinking on this and then often just toss them in the dryer for a few minutes after they are dry to "fluff" them before putting them away.
Dishes
1. Use the dishwasher! The Mr. and I disagree on this, but I put just about everything in the dishwasher. Big mixing bowls, Tupperware, pots/pans, all of it. I love the dishwasher and don't mind if a big bowl is taking up the spots that 5 plates could fit. I'm not having to wash/dry it so I'm happy to load it up with everything that I can.
2. Run your dishwasher every night. It's one of those tasks I usually do before going to bed or just after we finish dinner. I like to run it each night and unload it each morning, generally while the kids are eating breakfast. This way you aren't stuck in the middle of the day with a full dishwasher because if that happens you would either end up leaving dirty dishes in the sink or hand washing them. Instead, if you run it each night, unload each morning, and fill it up throughout the day it keeps the rhythm going nicely.
I know this wasn't the most exciting topic, but a necessary one because it's something that all of us deal with. I hope some of these tips helped some of you and if you have any tips to share, I'd love to hear them because let's be honest, the laundry and dishes aren't going away!
EVERYDAY ORGANIZING FOR BUSY MOMS
January {Keep a Family Calendar}
February {To-Do Lists}
March {Time Pockets}
April {Declutter}
