I’ve been sick for the last few weeks, and the laundry has really piled up. I’ve tried to keep up with emergency items (“Mom, where is my favorite green shirt?” and “Honey, did you happen to wash my black pants?”) but honestly, trying to get it all done when I get winded just sitting was a bit much.
I’m still sick, but as we are definitely in a crisis mode with the laundry, I’m aiming for at least two loads of laundry a day, completely washed, dried (or hung), and folded when dry. Putting it all away is another story, but at least it is clean and wrinkle free.
Since I am piled up with laundry, I’ve been using a few tricks to make sure I get the maximum amount of laundry done per each load in a small space, with as little energy output as possible.
The first trick is to enlist help, but as most moms know, the help is sometimes does not translate into doing all of the laundry for you like magic. So, I ask for help getting the full laundry baskets up and down the stairs, which is the hardest for me to do when I am sick.
Next, I get myself down to the basement and grab a comfy spot amongst the baskets. Here I can sort everything out into the various piles. Because I want to maximize the loads, I am a bit more forgiving with sorting. Washing items on cold makes it less likely that they will run. So does using a color catching sheet. This is a good tip if you want to completely hand off the laundry to a child or teen.
Rather than worrying about hanging stuff outside, I simply grab some hangers and hang things from various spots in the basement (I didn’t say it had to look pretty). Those kid-sized plastic pants hangers with the little clips on them work really well for hanging tights!
When it comes to folding, I’m right there on the floor again, folding directly from the dryer into baskets.
How do you handle household chores when you are sick?
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