Day 84 - No More Ring Around the Collar!

You know those weeks where you're just trying to keep your feet underneath you? That was last week for me - treading water all the way. But that was Last Week, and now it's This Week, and I'm feeling all spring-ified and motivated! If I had been cool enough to be a cheerleader in high school, I'd add a sassy little leap and a GO TEAM right here, but I wasn't, so I won't.

Today, I tackle The Laundry and Mount Flushmore (cloth diapers). In our family, it's no secret that I hate doing laundry - that's why I got married (kidding, kidding). There's the dragging the bags down to the laundry room, the quarters, the folding, ..... blah blah blah. It's boring! Even Martha Stewart can't make it look fun! No matter how much L'Occitane Lemongrass Whoopdeedoo detergent and lavender-scented linen water (what?) you throw at it, washing clothes is not a "good thing". Well, it is, but it's not. Ugh. Add to that the fact that one load always involves POOP and it's just. no. fun. Well, at least I don't have to beat my clothes and the dirty diapers against a rock in the river to clean them - that wouldn't fly here in Queens.

OK - how do I make this suck less?
1. Make hubby do it. Best option by far! But when he's (run) away, ...
2. Don't sort. Clothes go in one hamper, diapers & covers into the diaper pail. All clothes get washed in cold, all diapers in hot. Sheets, towels, dish rags, etc get a hot/cold mix otherwise known as "warm".
3. If it ain't dirty, don't wash it. If it's not stinky, gummy, grimy, crusty, Sleepy, Dopey, sweaty, or otherwise icky, it can be worn again. You'd better believe things would get worn a lot more if I had to beat them against a rock to clean them.
4. Nothing other than detergent - no fabric softener, no stain stick (a bit of detergent on a stain ASAP will do the same thing), no linen water (no really, what is that?), no foofiness, no FeBreeze (a little vodka and water does the same thing). Just detergent, which I will play with making myself when my current bottle runs out.
5. Buy more black clothes.

I'm going to keep my change purse in my laundry basket, and may keep the detergent in there too once Sebastian is old enough to know that it's not a delicious foamy beverage. Things do not need to be perfectly folded (they're in drawers and bins). I may try not folding any of Sebastian's clothes this week since his stuff is limited to one small bin - we'll see if my OCD kicks in and vetoes that. Anyone know any good laundry detergent recipes suitable for the whole family? I do not want a toddler with a freaky rash butt.

Sebastian at 6 months - he was terrible at folding.