Laundry

I have been saving up thoughts about laundry for a while, thinking I needed to write a post about the topic. I will share with you now.

My first week of college, I went to do laundry. I've been doing my own laundry since ninth grade, so I just did it. While I was there, I saw the funniest thing: a guy my own age on the phone with someone I can only assume was his mom, asking her how to do laundry. Thank you, Mom, for not letting me suffer that ignorant fate!

My first married apartment had a very tiny laundry room that served way more people than it should have. It only had two washers and two dryers, for an apartment building that probably had about forty people in it, most of whom would be doing their laundry separately. Also, it was used by a couple of other small buildings nearby. It's hard to not have access to laundry when you plan for it.

At my second married apartment, laundry was a pretty big hassle. We were on the third floor, and even though our building was very close to the (fortunately very large) laundry room, it is hard to carry a big hamper on the stairs. And then I got pregnant, and carrying laundry up and down stairs became even harder!

We moved to a new apartment in the same complex, and our situation was the same: third floor, near the laundry room. But in this quad, I quickly noticed that people noticed me, and I got many offers to carry my hamper for me. Being six and more months pregnant, I never declined. It was so nice to be offered this help!

Then our baby was born. Laundry went from once a week to twice or more a week (with just as many loads per laundry day, might I add!) However, now I had the added tasks of figuring out what to do with my baby while I went down to the laundry room and figuring out how to get poop stains out of lots of things. Baby poop does NOT just wash right out. I asked my mom, went online, and tried lots of things. I still don't really have a strategy. Shout spray works pretty well, and if an item still has a stain on it, I wash it over and over without drying it until I can't see anything anymore. Sometimes this means it's out of commission for a few weeks! Thankfully, she hardly ever poops on her clothing anymore.

As far as what to do with Hazel during laundry, I never totally figured that one out. If she's napping, that's great, but her naps don't often last the two hours it takes to get laundry totally done. So, I carry her with me in our snugli or sling, and if I feel like I just can't do that, I leave her, safe but sad, in her crib until I get back.

Now that I'm in Virginia, though, things have been different. It is SO NICE to have a washer and dryer in the actual place where you live! I can do laundry every day or every other day if I need to, because it's not a huge deal! I can do it while my baby is awake! I don't have to walk stairs! I don't have to rush to get things out of the dryer as soon as it stops out of fear that someone will steal it or move it out of the way! I don't have to look at the dried up, blackened stuff on the inside of the dryer and hope that it doesn't get onto my clothes! I don't have to look at the leftover sludge in the detergent area of the washer and hope that the person before me didn't use bleach!

Having a personal washer and dryer is everything I hoped for, and more.

Another thing I've noticed since getting here: I'm beginning to suspect that non-high-efficiency washers work better. It shouldn't be true, but I think it is. Washing clothes in lots of water just works better.

Also, I should add, I do most of the laundry, but not because I'm a beaten-down wife who does all the housework. No, it's because I'm at home more, so I usually end up having time to do it even with taking care of our baby.

Also, I'd rather do laundry than dishes!