Usually when Daniel asks me if he has any more underwear, I tell him that yes, they’re in the basket in such and such a place-I’m just behind with folding.
But when he asked several weeks back, I had to report that he had none. None. I’d fallen behind such that he had no clean underwear. Now, thanks to our packratrish tendencies (actually, my tendency to think that any clothing can be reused or repurposed), we were still able to find something he could wear, albeit not the most comfortable fit. (TMI? So sorry.)
I’ve lost my Homemaking Mojo, you see.
I had such a wonderful laundry system set up. Every morning, I threw in the load of laundry prescribed for the day (Sheets on Monday, Darks on Tuesday, Underwear and other things washed on Hot on Wednesday, etc.). Every lunchtime I switched the laundry from washer to dryer or hung it to dry. And after work, I folded and put away (some of the time.) It worked so well, I was never behind except on folding (which isn’t quite as desperate as being behind on washing and drying, you have to admit.)
But I got behind and tried to catch on a Saturday and that blew my Homemaking Mojo clear away. I spent the entire day handling a mountain of laundry, resulting in extreme laundry exhaustion – which means I didn’t do laundry again for a week and ended up with another mountain. And then my husband didn’t have underwear.
So now every ten days or so I freak out, realizing that my husband will soon run out of underwear, and I quick throw in a load of underwear – leaving the rest of the laundry to pile into a higher and higher and higher mess as our closets gradually empty.
There’s an easy fix, you know. All I need to do is throw in a load of laundry every morning and switch it every noon.
The problem is that laundry isn’t the only area in which I’ve lost my Homemaking Mojo. In a frenzy of preparation for guests, I spent a day doing dishes and cooking. And I’ve barely cooked or done dishes since. In a cleaning frenzy (for guests again), I spent myself on housework and can’t even be bothered to move my cereal bowl from the sofa-side table to the sink these days. In a fit of organizing (trying to get my craft room up and running-which it now is!), I wore myself out and am now letting all my organizational systems decay.
The house seems insurmountable. It’s not just the laundry I need to pick back up. It’s the dishes, the cooking, the cleaning, the garden, the grocery shopping. Even just picking up those wonderful one-thing-at-a-time systems I had going seems overwhelming, because it’s reestablishing a half dozen patterns I’ve let slide.
But really, Rebekah, you don’t have to pick them all up at once to make progress.
Just take one step at a time.
Transfer the load of laundry from washer to dryer at lunch today.
You’ll find your mojo one small step at a time.
Laundry allows itself to be folded by anyone who will pick it up and do it. I am questioning the equity in your division of household labor. Don’t you work full time?
You speak truth Ma-Ba – and Daniel does work around the house. But my job is much less demanding than his (he’s been working a fair bit of overtime since about a quarter of his group left for another company) and I haven’t been in school (although he’s done now, officially an MBA).
Really, the problem is that when my systems are in place, I don’t want him interfering with them – and it takes me a while to admit that I’m behind and ask for help. I’m getting there though (he’s been cooking for the past few weeks)
hehe this made me laugh :) cuz i can totally relate! it’s so easy to get behind on the things that used to be simple. I’ve been doing this driving job now for a little while and I’ve plum forgot how to work and keep a house! haha oh well, slowly but surely it’ll turn around, eh? :)
Buy more underwear.
The housekeeping can indeed seem insurmountable at times. When I start cleaning or organizing, I come across several more things that need cleaning or organizing, and it never seems all “done.” Then something unusual in the routine can set things off kilter and take a while to get back on. But you’re right, small steps, one thing at a time, will eventually make it all manageable.