As I write this blog post, the washer and the dryer and working noisily just to my right. Those evil machines are just a few feet away from my desk. I hate those machines but I am thankful for them. Very thankful.

When TW and I joined families, the laundry took on a life of its own. Laundry for seven or nine was a never-ending job. There was so much laundry that I learned to simply not stress about whether it was done. It was never going to be done. There would always be more. And if children did not have clean clothes, then it was their responsibility to get the laundry into the machines and at least start the process. If they just got the clothes downstairs, somewhere in the vicinity of what was likely an already full machine, I'd get it done.

The problem comes when the children don't bring their laundry into the laundry room and suddenly they find themselves wearing the same pants or skirt for a couple of days. Or even better, they wear the same outfit to school on Monday that they wore on Friday because when they brought their laundry to the laundry room, they didn't bring it all - just the top layer.

Not. My. Problem.

That's become my outlook on laundry. If you don't have a clean towel then odds are it's because you and your siblings have a pile of dirty towels in your bedrooms and you need to remedy that situation before you have clean towels.

If you keep wearing the same three outfits over and over again, that's because those are the only outfits you bring down to the laundry room.

If you can't find the top that matches that skirt perfectly then it's because it's in the bottom of your dirty clothes pile or you've wadded it up and put it in the wrong drawer in your dresser.

Not. My. Problem.

Let's not even discuss socks. OK wait, let's discuss socks. Michelle and Christopher learned very early in their lives that the odds of finding matching socks was slim - even in the years when I always bought them the exact same white ankle length socks and they wore the same size sock. There are always different shades of white. They both quickly learned that wearing matching socks when they left the house was just not that important in the scheme of things.

Christopher and Michelle were quite happy to wear whichever two socks they happened to pick up that a) fit them b) looked relatively clean. They liked it much better when I stopped buying white socks and started buying nifty patterned and colored socks. It was cool to wear a black sock with bright colored rainbows on it and a green sock with candy canes on it. Those two big kids of mine made mismatched socks a fashion statement long before mismatched socks came along.

I haven't quite been able to convince the three younger kids that mismatched socks are cool. They find it cool when their older siblings wear them. They are amused by my mismatched socks (because yes, I do the same thing Christopher and Michelle do.) But they are still far too easily influenced by the status quo to take such a fashion statement and make it their own. They'll learn. Or else they'll have to spend time their free time trying to find socks that match. Or wear dirty socks. Or go sockless (during a Chicago winter, that is just not a fun option.)

Not. My. Problem.

That's how I like it. I don't want to try some fabulous tip for getting kids to help with laundry. I don't even want to think about trying some new schedule or process for getting laundry done. I am perfectly happy with the haphazard way that our laundry gets done. Or doesn't get done. It's all good - and if it isn't. It's not my problem.

* Laundry Mountains
* A look at a laundry room
* I used to have a life, now I just have laundry

Sue at Laundry for Six is slacker supreme with this great comment. Surely Sue isn't the only laid back slacker mom around here...

Are you a laundry slacker like I am? If so, leave your link below or leave a comment here. If you are much more organized about your family's laundry (or if you want to be) then you should visit Aviva and leave your link and comment on her post.

~~Denise
Flamingo House Happenings

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