You know that cheesy old saying that a “woman’s work in never done?”
Yeah, totally true.
I mean, I can do laundry until I’m blue in the face and the bottom of the basket will have something in it again within seconds.
I can do the dishes, and ten minutes later there’s more.
And don’t even get me started on the floors.
My kids (4 & 2) aren’t perfect, nor are they tidy…but there are a couple of things they are really, really, really consistently good at:
One thing they are really good at is putting their dirty clothes in hampers.
Now, if you can recall, I’m a stickler for white towels.
And while I’m a proponent of hanging towels for re-use (I mean really, they don’t need washed every time!), I get weird if a wet towel has been tossed into a hamper or even left in a ball on the floor for more than a few minutes.
I don’t care if it’s only been in there ten minutes…it’s done. Dirty. Needs washed. No recovery.
It just grosses me out. I can almost hear the mold growing.
I know that’s neurotic and ridiculous but I’m weird.
As you can see, my kids being really good (or really bad) at getting their dirty clothes put away makes for A LOT A LOT of laundry.
Lately, I was realizing that I was doing a whole lot of extra laundry…and a TON of it was towels.
Nothing I seemed to do was helping.
I’d get sidetracked and somehow towels were either tossed into hampers or left in damp balls in a corner.
So…I did the unthinkable.
The shocking.
The absolutely insane.
I bought colored towels.
Horrors.
I get hives just looking at them.
But they’re not for me.
Just the kids.
One for each kid. Each with their own assigned color.
Lu gets pink.
Jill gets purple.
Henry is the green (but he wasn’t home for mom’s photo shoot).
I followed this tutorial and made them hoodie towels (Don’t be impressed. It’s ridiculously easy. If you can sew two straight lines, you can do this. Took like 10 minutes per towel. If that.)
Now, even if they get left on the floor, I don’t care if they get re-hung since it’s not me that’ll be using them.
Mom of the Year.
(And yes, in case you were wondering, I’m already convinced they are dingy…we’ve had them three weeks. Logical.)
Another thing they are really good at is clearing their space after meals and putting any dishes they use in the sink.
Even little Lu, at just 26 months old, automatically carries her little plastic plate and cup to the sink after meals without a reminder dropping half the uneaten food on the floor like a modern day Gretel.
So, I can’t complain too much about my problem…after all, they’re just doing as they were told, right?
But here’s the issue: my kids are so good at putting used dishes in the sink that they would take one bitty sip of water from a cup and then just toss it in the sink.
ALL. DAY. LONG.
By mid afternoon, the top rack of my dishwasher looked more like I was running a preschool than a mom to three.
It was ridiculous.
No matter how many times I tried to say “This is your cup for the day…just leave it out and reuse it!”…they would take one sip and into the sink it would go.
Sigh.
I mean, I can only get so mad right?
But it was still driving me batty.
Finally, I decided to end the plastic cup madness and bought each of the kids their own water bottle. (I got these at Target for $3.99 each).
Every morning I fill them with fresh water and they live in the bottom fridge door shelf where they can be reached easily by grubby little hands.
Hen and Lu can help themselves (and get Jill’s for her) as they please throughout the day and for some reason because it’s a water bottle, they put them back in the fridge rather than tossing them into the sink.
I cannot tell you how this ridiculously simple water bottle idea has cut the sheer amount of dishes I have!
(And a side benefit is that I can keep an eye on how much water the kids are or aren’t drinking.)
It’s impossibly simple.
I won’t win any awards for ingenuity…but I share this with you because I was shocked at how a few goofy little changes makes such a difference in workload for me!
My point is: if you can think of a way to streamline, DO IT! You’ll be amazed!
Oh, and while you’re here…
Did you notice those cool little rubber dealies with the kids’ names imprinted on them?
Cool, right?
I had gotten some for Henry when he was a baby for daycare and nursery at church.
They were so handy (you can leave them on in the dishwasher!) I bought the girls each a set too.
I like them so much I asked InchBug if they would like to share a set of their Orbit Labels with one lucky Life Rearranged reader!
They come in a ton of fun colors…
And you can customize them to include allergy information:
Wanna win a set for your kid?
Here’s whatcha can do:
1) Leave a comment on this post telling me what neverending task you can’t seem to wrangle around the house. (1 entry)
2) Like LifeRearranged on Facebook and leave me a comment telling me you did. (1 entry)
3) Like InchBug on Facebook and leave a comment telling me you did. (1 entry)
I’ll pull a winner Wednesday, September 21st.
{This is not a sponsored post. I emailed InchBug and was all ‘hey, i like your stuff, you should give one to my friends.’ and they were all ‘cool, no problem’. and i was all ‘awesome’.}
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My never ending task is dishes. We don’t have a dish washer (we rent) and it just seems that there are always dishes from myself, my hubby or my twin 2 yr old daughters. Ugh!
I already “like” you on FB! :)
I hate dishes too. They are never all clean!
My never ending task is decluttering, our coffee table especially, but also the kids’ rooms and the main floor. And sorting clothes that are too small. And putting shoes away rather than spread them all over the floor.
My neverending task is laundry. Argh.
I Like Life Rearranged on FB.
I Like InchBug on Facebook.
I hate dishes!! My new goal, starting last night, go to bed with a clean sink every night. We will see how long it lasts ;)
The floors!! I could sweep and mop five times a day and I don’t think it would stay cleaan longer than five minutes! Of course I live in the country and have two cats, a dog, and a husband (and a baby boy on the way).
My never ending task is dishes, its crazy! I have to assign a new task to my teenager because she never unloads them and then I get backed up because I am adamant about her completing her one chore lol.
Well my newest never ending task-and I’ve been here before as a mama of 4- is vacuuming up the Cheerio’s!! They are EVERY WHERE now!! They stick to the bottoms of our feet and get dragged through the house. But in the long run, I just love it and I’m reminded (bitter-sweetly) that these will be the last of our scattered Cheerio days as Stella is destined to be the baby of the family!
I already like you on facebook :)
I’ve been ‘liking’ LR on FB for awhile now.
Oh- and I already “like” you on FB!!
And I liked InchBug on facebook too. What a great product!
I have also ‘liked’ InchBug on FB. Thank you both for the giveaway!
I hate picking up all the toys/games with a million pieces which mt 2 yr old LOVES to dump everywhere. My husband doesn’t help much in the Picking Up after yourself tasks either :/
As soon as you said you bought colored towels a week or so ago, I had a feeling this is where you were headed. I started color coding things when the oldest two were under a year old and now we color-code EVERYTHING in our house. Blue, green, red/orange, purple & pink towels, scooters, cups, bowls, blankets, shoes…everything. It makes life just a tiny bit easier.
I can’t keep up with anything, but I’m most annoyed by my inability to keep our long counter tops cleared off. If there is an empty flat surface, it attracts “stuff.”
ewww….the floors! “Didn’t I just sweep/vacuum yesterday/this morning/5 minutes ago???”
I can’t seem to ever sweep the kitchen floor completely clean! I sweep and sweep and still there is food on the floor. How do two little boys make such big messes? =)
I follow you on facebook!
laundry…and floors…and dishes, oh my! it’s neverending. but brings me so much joy to know our home is filled with our little guy! :)
liked you on FB! :)
liked inchbug on fb! :)
I feel like my never ending task is getting the floors clean. With a dog and child I can’t get everything up! The hair seems to LOVE the floor and the food, how does it get into some of those places?
My never ending task is also laundry, but clean laundry. I can get it washed AND folded, but then putting it away is a chore. I feel like I always have clean laundry to tend to. As I sit here now, I have 2 baskets ready and waiting!!
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I like InchBug on FB.
My never ending chore is laundry. With two little girls who love to change clothes I can’t seem to ever find the bottom of the laundry basket! :)
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I feel like its dishes here. No matter how much I do them they keep stacking up like crazy!
LR Facebook fan
Laundry is my absolute worst chore. With a messy 1 year old and an equally messy husband, there is always laundry needing to be done!
Mine would have to be picking up stuff laying around. No matter how much I do it, there is always more to do!
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I already “like” you on facebook.
I like InchBug on FB!
I “liked” Orbit Labels on facebook.
I love reading liferearranged!
Considering my house looks like ToysRUs threw up all over it! I would have to say picking up all the toys! How can one 3yo girl do this much damage in such short time!!!???!!! I have little bins in each room for her to put her toys, but do they get there? ! NOOOO! “Mommy you can help me pick them up. I need to go do this…. Really! When she said that the first time, my jaw dropped and I had the longest laughing fit! Of course, I almost peed my pants because my bladder isn’t what it used to be!
I like you on Facebook :)
I like InchBug on Facebook!
Never Ending Task = Laun.Dry. Ugh.
I love how you color coded the childrens towels and drink bottle, a very cool idea. so many things one can learn these days on the internet that helps make life easier. I have grandkids now, three boys – their mom would love this idea, she is also a white towel lady. Even when ones children are grown and gone the never ending task of laundry and dishes, vaccuming (three cats) goes on forever – that is why the phase of, “womens’ work is never done” is so very true. My mom at 82 works the same as she did when I was a young child at home – it just never ends, one can’t retire from it either, nor get paid for it.
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I hve liked Life ReArranged on FB for sometime now
clutter – it multiplies like rabbits and coat hangers. I never seem to be able to get things put where they belong.
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