Over the past 6 1/2yrs of being married my own Mt has evolved from being put away nicely, to having no where to go, to being dumped on the spare bed, to being put into tubs. I am not really one for purchasing new furniture for each person who is born into the family. Actually we move so often it is better not to have any/much.
Because I have lots of LITTLE kids time runs away from me too fast that I don't even bother to FOLD our washing because simply I don't have the TIME to do such a task. In fact I am semi-at-a-point where I am not putting washing away, the kids are. For the past 6 1/2yrs all the washing has been left up to me, and me alone.
Training the children to be independent is important to me. Let's face it. Most likely they will grow up, and if that is likely they will have their own homes to look after, and most likely that will include such tasks as washing.
At just 3yrs of age my 2nd child can put away nearly 6 loads of washing ALL BY HERSELF! With the large sum of 10 cents for doing so. She's worth the expense. So how do we manage to do this?!
Here's the secret:
Everything has a PLACE to be in.
ALL the washing is kept in the SAME ROOM
MOST washing is sorted into TUBS/BOXES according to who's or what they are
Each of the children have their OWN tub/box.
PLUS we have the PJ box (everyone's PJs go in here Except Michael's because.. he doesn't have any).
Then there is Papa's cupboard, and Mummy's cupboard.
There is also a SOCK box, a JOCK box,
& a leggings box (for thy princess who practically ALWAYS has to wear them for modesty reasons).
Then there is the SWIMMING box,
the summer HAT box,
the winter HAT/BEANIE box,
the CURVES (my gym) box,
the DANCING box (for dancing),
& the CHURCH box (for church clothes),
and Bubba's Modern Cloth Nappies, and another box for nappies & wipes.
Oh & also the 'library box'. Which doesn't always sit on the clothing shelves.
On top of this is now the TOWEL box (kept in the linen cupboard),
the FLOOR TOWEL box (old nappy flats),
and a heap of boxes for the different types of sheets/rugs/blankets we have.
I was (meant to be) doing the towels and sheets etc. But they were being put 'out of the way' and thus not getting put away. So I got another box for towels to go straight into. Unfolded. Yep. Even the towels havn't been folded. Okay. So I have folded some. But not all. But you know what? When you fold 5 towels, to shower/bathe the family and 5 towels get unfolded to be used... it is kind of annoying.
The children's tubs are kept in the WARDROBES where the hangable washing is put on their rails (der). Out of sight means the washing area just about always looks tidy.
It means:
Everyone knows where to look for something, everyone knows where to put things. It means that I can ask one of the older children to get something for me that doesn't 'belong' to them and they know where to look and can find it easily.
It means family-helpers *Hi Vicki* know where things are or atleast where to look.
It is all about being ORGANISED in a way that is effective and efficient for OUR family at THIS stage in our lives. Eg. I can grab the dancing box and have all we need ready-to-go at the drop of a hat. It means that I can say alright church clothes and the children can grab the box with what they need. It means when socks are needed they know where to look.
When time is available we will *home school* and "pair" socks up. Then with the paired socks I'll put them in each persons SHOE box (box for their shoes = different post needed) so we can get socks and shoes quick.
What used to take ages, takes barely any time. What used to be a frustrating task searching for clothing items in piles is done in moments. I used to have to do EVERYTHING, now the children are gaining the ABILITY to do (just about) everything I can do.
I love my system, it works for me, and I hope that you may gain some thing from this that will work for you too.
5 Things that I am THANKFUL For:
1. A system that WORKS for me
2. A system that WORKS for the children
3. Packing alot of STUFF into a small area
4. Free & cheap tubs for items to be stored in
5. That the children are older, with abilities, leaving me with LESS (ha!) jobs
This has been linked to: www.wearethatfamily.com WFMW
Please Note: We live in a SMALL 3br house. We have OUR bedroom, the children's bedroom & the school room / storage room / clothes room separated using wardrobes.
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