Laundry problems start with the clothes

A mom of seven reminds us to use feelings of being overwhelmed with laundry to ask ourselves how many clothes our families really need. More thoughts here. An excerpt:

Our family actually got by for several years when the kids were little purely on bags left on my porch by kind neighbors. Yet, this posed a problem. Anxious to keep anything with any possible use, I was actually making a lot of work for myself and preventing my children from helping me effectively.

The truth is, children will only end up wearing a few outfits on a daily basis. They don't like change; they like predictability. Not only is it no use fighting this trait, it's counterproductive. Their drawers and closets are so full of things they don't wear, they actually live out of their laundry baskets most of the time. They simply can't put things away.

In addition, they function within a paradox: they only want to wear a few things, but the knowledge they have many things gives them implicit permission to overuse the laundry system. Clothing doesn't fit in drawers, so it ends up on the floor, or if you are lucky, in a hamper. A garment on the floor is by definition dirty! So you are overwhelmed.