If you follow me on Instagram (or if you made it all the way through last week's post), you'll know that our current read-aloud is Mary Poppins. Indulge me a moment, won't you, and allow me to share an excerpt with you:

If you are looking for Number Seventeen--and it is more than likely that you will be, for this book is all about that particular house--you will very soon find it. To begin with, it is the smallest house in the Lane. And besides that, it is the only one that is rather dilapidated and needs a coat of paint. But Mr. Banks, who owns it, said to Mrs. Banks that she could have either a nice, clean, comfortable house or four children. But not both, for he couldn't afford it. 

And after Mrs. Banks had given the matter some consideration she came to the conclusion that she would rather have Jane, who was the eldest, and Michael, who came next, and John and Barbara, who were Twins and came last of all. So it was settled, and that was how the Banks family came to live at Number Seventeen, with Mrs. Brill to cook for them, and Ellen to lay the tables, and Robertson Ay to cut the lawn and clean the knives and polish the shoes...

And, of course, besides these there was Katie Nanna... (Travers, pp. 17-18)

When Mr. Banks says that Mrs. Banks can either have a nice, clean, comfortable house or four children, his reasoning seems valid. (The other day, my preschooler dotted the window with new greasy fingerprints before the glass cleaner had even dried.) But here's the part where I'm lost... Mrs. Banks chooses to have four children, so that means that she can't have a nice, clean, comfortable house even though she has a cook, a maid, a gardener, and a nanny. And, in the book, there is no talk about Mrs. Banks working as a suffragette like she is portrayed in the Disney movie. So how in the world can her home not be nice, clean, and comfortable? Was this written ironically, or is this how English women lived in 1934?

For those of us who do not have a staff that includes a cook, a maid, a gardener, and a nanny, running a household is a gargantuan task. I'm always on the lookout for homemaking hacks that make these mundane--yet terribly important--tasks a little easier. And do I have a homemaking hack to share with you today!

Let's talk laundry. (Mary Poppins doesn't mention who did the Banks' laundry. Maybe that's what was occupying all of Mrs. Banks' time!) I think anyone with children probably struggles with taming the laundry beast. When you have four boys, one of them being a baby, the laundry can get positively out of control! Thankfully, I've figured out a laundry system that keeps our laundry beast gentle as a kitten... most of the time. 😉

{#1} Set up a system.

{Sort} I have designated four laundry baskets for our dirty laundry: light colors, dark colors, whites, and delicates. (You can see a photo of the baskets if you scroll to the top of this post. I labeled them with a label maker, but a Sharpie would have done the job just as well.) At our old house, I had room for these baskets under our folding counter. Let's have a moment of silence for the folding counter... Even though our current house doesn't have a folding counter (hence the moment of silence), the linen closet upstairs perfectly fit our four baskets! At the end of each day, every single member of the family is expected to sort their dirty clothes into the four baskets. For our older children, this gets them in the habit of taking care of their worn clothing and teaches them how to sort laundry. We need to assist our preschooler, and, of course, we sort the baby's clothes for him.

{Wash} Every morning, either my husband or I grab the fullest laundry basket (today, it was darks), carry it downstairs, and run it in the washing machine.

{Flip/Dry} When the load is done, I flip the laundry to the dryer and try to remove it as quickly as I can to avoid having to run it in the dryer again iron it. I hang anything I want to keep smooth (Dan's work clothes, my blouses, the boys' t-shirt, etc.) and toss everything else into a basket I keep on top of the dryer.

{Fold/Put Away} I enlist the boys' help for this part of the process. They help me sort shirts by the individual, pair up and fold socks, and deliver folded laundry to its owners.

{#2} A load a day keeps "Mount Washmore" away!

I can't take credit for this mantra (thank you very much, FlyLady), but I do try to live by it! When I wash, dry, hang/fold, and put away one load of laundry a day, the loads end up being relatively small and doable. If I can, I try to refrain from doing laundry on Sunday, since our family tries to keep Sunday as a day of rest. We don't always follow this to a T. Sometimes our laundry needs require more than one load to be done in a day. Sometimes we're just really busy, and we miss a day (or two). As much as I can, though, I try to do one load of laundry a day, and this has really helped keep the chore manageable.

{#3} Do the entire load from start to finish in one day.

I am blessed with a husband who helps with laundry. For the most part, he is awesome about doing the entire load from start to finish. Sometimes, though, he will wash and dry multiple loads, stuffing the dried clothing items into the "to-be-folded" basket without folding and putting them away. It's known around here as "the cram 'n stuff." I really, really appreciate his help, but he will definitely back me up when I say that the "cram 'n stuff" drives me absolutely batty! Not only does it mean that I have a lot to fold and put away, but it also means that the clothes are usually very wrinkled from being stuffed into the basket. As I'm folding, I have to make a pile of clothes that are unacceptably wrinkled, and then I run them through the dryer again iron them.

{#4} Do not iron unless you really, really have to.

Speaking of ironing... I despise it, so I rarely do it. Instead, I promptly take clothes out of the dryer and hang them, so they will be wrinkle-free. If I don't get to them in time, I run them in the dryer again on our "wrinkle release" setting. (Before I had this setting, I would simply throw a damp washcloth in the dryer and run it again for about 20 minutes, and then I'd promptly remove the clothes.)

Now, this doesn't always work. Yesterday I noticed that my oldest son's baseball uniform was wrinkled, and he was having his team photo taken that afternoon. I threw the t-shirt in our dryer and ran it on "wrinkle release." Perhaps the load was too light with just the one t-shirt, but it just got really wet. I ran the dryer for another hour or so, and the t-shirt was still damp and very wrinkled. I ran out of time to deal with it, so my son had to wear it like that, and now I'm dreading seeing how those photos turned out! In retrospect, I wish I had just ironed his shirt. Actually, I want to get my hands on some wrinkle releaser spray.

{#5} Train Your Children to Help

I enlist the children's help in many ways. As I mentioned, they are expected to sort their clothes at the end of each day. Often, I have my nine-year-old watch/help me put a load in the washing machine, so he can see how to add detergent and how to work the machine. As he gets older, he will be expected to run and flip loads of laundry all by himself. I never have to match or fold socks anymore--the boys have taken this over completely! I just throw the socks in a pile on the floor while I'm folding. My oldest son will see the pile on the living room floor and set to work without my having to ask! The boys also help me sort the clothes that have been hung, and they deliver the clean laundry to each respective individual. Having my children help with the laundry lightens my load (ba-dum-bum!) and it also teaches them how to be responsible and independent little humans.

And there you have it! Do you have any laundry hacks to share? I'd love to hear! (Especially if it helps me avoid having to iron - ha!)

Travers, P. L. Mary Poppins. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2014.