August 6, 2025

Sharing the Laundry Room

Sometimes I have so much to do that I struggle to decide what to do first. Everything is or seems to be a priority of significance and often I am frozen in place trying to decide.

One thing that helps is when I know I have a decent amount of time lying ahead of me in my day (this is of course rare) because I like to complete tasks thoroughly. When I know I won’t be able to finish something it is tough for me to start it.

Other things I have become accustomed to getting started out of necessity, but never really finishing it because it really never will truly be done. Laundry is one of these. And I am responsible for 4, sometimes 5 people’s laundry including my own (3 of my kids’ laundry, mine, and sometimes Mom’s or sometimes my dad does that).

So my tendency is to want to put in as many loads as I can in one day or in a few days as I can for the 4 of us, but I have to get out of the way for Dad, my husband, and my oldest so I have to attempt to remember to get my loads done and out of the way in the little laundry room to make way for 3 guys in my life to get theirs done.

You would think after a few years sharing this house with my family and my parents also, that I would have a more structured routine. But very few days are alike for me, very few hours are the same, and very few loads of laundry are the same and it seems I have often left a load behind in the dryer when it’s Dad’s agreed upon laundry day. It seems my husband is often waiting for me to move loads over. And my teen is still avoiding committing to a certain laundry day and is the most flexible about me being in the way.

This morning I took my kids in the car early to complete a full day of library hikes and I forgot to make sure the washer and dryer were cleared out because it’s Dad’s laundry day this well. He is going to adjust and wait until tomorrow, but seemed fairly disappointed that my stuff was in the way and I had forgotten it’s his turn.

While sandwiched and while living within a large household there is plenty of turn-taking from chores, to showers, to making one’s coffee and stepping aside. Some families have more structured schedules and we are glad we don’t yet need that, but maybe someday.

There are many factors and it’s complicated to make it all work out day to day.