Daily Routines: Laundry

If your home is like mine, there’s always laundry to do.  With small children, the amount of laundry can feel endless and overwhelming. 

Growing up, I watched my mom do multiple loads of laundry every weekend. If she had a spare minute during the week, she would quickly wash the essentials.  As I got older, I was given the task of keeping up with my own laundry to ease her workload.  I did the same with my son, once he could safely reach the dials. 

Now, with only my laundry and my husband's to manage, I still run one load every day. Some days it's clothes and other days it's linens like sheets or towels.  Keeping this simple routine means we rarely run out of clean items. 

One load of laundry a day can do the following:

• Lessens the risk of running out of clean clothes
• Lowers stress levels and reduces the feeling of overwhelm
• Makes the "mountain" of laundry on the weekends almost non-existent, freeing you up for other things.

No one enjoys getting up in the morning only to discover they are out of underwear or their favorite shirt isn't clean.

The visual clutter of seeing clothes tumbling out of an overflowing laundry basket adds to your stress. And having to postpone fun outings-- or give up your weekend-- just to catch up on laundry is the worst.

Instead, grab the basket and toss in a load of whites or towels while you are watching TV or doing other chores.  An hour later, move it to the dryer and go back to what you were doing. Once everything is dry, a quick fold is usually all it takes to keep things under control. 

You can even involve little kids by having them fold washcloths and match up socks. It is a small habit that makes a big difference in keeping the laundry chaos away. 

Doing one load of laundry every day is a simple habit that helps keep laundry from becoming overwhelming. Instead of facing a huge weekend pile, you can stay ahead with small, consistent loads- whether it is clothes, towels, or sheets. This routine reduces stress and prevents last-minute "I am out of clean underwear" moments and frees up your weekends for rest and fun. By involving kids in small tasks like folding small items, you turn laundry into a manageable part of daily life rather than a never-ending chore. 

Daily Bathroom Reset

Nothing says I love you like a clean and tidy place to soak in the tub, wash your hands, or recover when you are not feeling well. A quick daily reset in the bathroom not only keeps things fresh, but it's a small but meaningful way to bless your family. 

A daily bathroom reset takes about 5 minutes per bathroom: -

1. Once you are done in the morning- shaving, washing your face, applying your makeup, and brushing your teeth-- grab ag a clean cloth and wipe down the sink, faucet, and countertop.

2. Give the tub/shower a rinse and then wipe off the faucet and knobs. 

3. Wipe off the outside of the toilet (and the lid) and give the bowl a good scrub with the toilet brush. 

4. Finish by tossing the bathroom rugs in the dryer for a few minutes.  This fluffs the fibers and makes them feel so much more luxurious than a crunchy or flattened rug. 

These tiny habits add up, creating a bathroom that feels calm, cared for, and ready for whatever your day brings. 

When you build this simple daily bathroom reset into your day, you're not just cleaning- you're creating a calm space for the people you love. Start with one bathroom. One small habit. Enjoy the peace that comes with having your home tidy. 

 

Kitchen Reset

Every day, our kitchens become bustling hubs of activity. We end up with dirty dishes and sticky, cluttered counters.  If your life looks like mine, you get up and make lunches and breakfast, and then prepare supper. Sure enough, your sink is filled with dishes,  your countertops are a mix of clean and dirty items, and your stove carries the unpleasant evidence of overflowing pots. 

How to do a daily kitchen reset:

1. Begin by rinsing out the sink and filling a basin with hot, soapy water.

2. Wipe down the microwave and the stovetop.

3. Load the dishwasher with dirty dishes and start it.

4. Wash the plasticware, fragile dishes, and any that didn’t fit in the dishwasher.

5. Wipe down the counters and put away food in the fridge or cupboard/pantry.

By this time, you should notice your kitchen becoming tidy and clean.

6.  Rinse out the sink again and put away any hand-washed dishes.

Stand back and admire your hard work.

Today, I completed all these tasks in under 30 minutes.

Later in the day, the tasks are simple: unload the dishwasher, add any new dirty dishes, wipe off the counters, and rinse out the sink. 

Husbands and kids can help load and unload the dishwasher. They can also remove countertop crumbs and place non-dishwasher items in a sink basin. 

No hour-long cleaning marathons needed-  just a quick reset that keeps your kitchen feeling calm and under control.