A Load a Day Keeps the Mountain Away

Years ago, when I was in college, the pre-1930 apartment building I lived in did not have a washer or a dryer.  So, I hauled my gigantic load of laundry to the laundromat once, maybe twice a week. It didn't make sense for me to do laundry more frequently because no matter how much laundry I had - whether one load or several - the amount of time it took to wash it and dry it was always the same: an hour and 15 minutes, give or take a few minutes. I didn't include folding time because I didn't always fold my clothes at the laundromat; sometimes, I didn't even fold them at home either.

Even when I eventually moved into an apartment and later a house with a washer/dryer, I still had the concept of "laundry day". It took me years, literally years to break that mindset. I think it was after I had my first child that I began to do laundry every other day. I used cloth diapers on him so that was a huge motivator to do laundry more frequently. It wasn't until my second son was about two or three years old that I realized I could stay on top of the laundry mountain by washing it every day. Duh. A load a day is easier to wash and fold than three or four loads twice a week. Like taking a shower or brushing my teeth, doing laundry is now part of my daily routine. Plus, instead of filling me with a sense of dread, I now feel as though I've conquered a monster.