Mountain Tip Experiences


Some mountains are just breathtakingly beautiful. Other mountains are daunting and scary. Being a very neat and tidy person, I began to get a little overwhelmed as a young mother when my children were multiplying as well as my dishes and laundry at a very rapid rate. Sometimes it seemed that all my days and time consisted of was tackling the overwhelming mountains of dishes and laundry.

 

Now, a mother of sixteen, I have had a few years of climbing experiences to the top of those mountains as well as God strengthening me to move those mountains by His grace and wisdom. These two areas are ones many moms struggle with, and I would like to share some “tips” that have helped me “top” those mountains and see brighter days.

 

DISHES:

Most of the time we have not had a dishwasher. But even as we do have one now, we choose not to use it most of the time. 1) it takes much more time to wash, and 2) it can take even longer to dry. Drain boards are my best dish friends.

1.     I have discovered that if I rinse off, and neatly and categorically stack my dishes after a meal, then I can easily get to them either immediately or at a later time without a lot of hassle. Since they are already rinsed off, I don’t have to work at getting old, hardened food off.

2.     Go ahead and wash the big pots and pans immediately after a meal, then dry them and put them away. Getting the big things out of the way and out of sight works emotionally as well. It lets you see immediate progress and it is easier to be able to walk away from a small pile if necessary than a daunting big pile to “face” you later.

3.     Either wash dishes right after a meal or if you have older children or “dish teams” have them be on duty as you get ready to prepare the next meal. Then your kitchen time is spent together when the cooks must be in there anyway.

4.     Get the drain board working for you. Fill it up, then let the dishes dry on their own (it usually only takes 15 minutes in the drain board). Then when you have a moment, empty it, and it is ready for a next “batch” of dishes.

For our home, dishes just seem to never stop. I do like to try to get everything done at the same time after a meal, but when we can’t because of school, or church, or other things that take us away from the task, these tips help us to stay on top of the dishes, rather than feeling overwhelmed by the never-ending pile.

 

 

LAUNDRY:

I have seen homes where the beds or the couches are continuous heaps of laundry. I like to sleep on my bed and sit on my couch with the family. So I cried out to God for a better solution and He heard my cry when we had child #9. This system has worked ever since! Praise the Lord!!

1.     Get a station set up for dirty clothes (preferable whites and darks) at an easy and logical place for all to use. Even with all 16 of us, I only have two stations: one two-sided hamper in the master bathroom and one two-sided hamper by the main bathroom where most of the children are. Teach the children to put only what is dirty in those hampers (help the little ones, of course).

2.     Have a main basket or two (I have two). This is for the purpose of taking laundry our of the dryer or to hang wet clothes on a line outside. When clothes are dry or ready to put away, then go to step 3:

3.     Have a medium size laundry basket, or decorative square basket for each member of the family. I have a shelf in my laundry room that these stay on, but I have used my hallway for this before. (These baskets can easily stack when necessary, but I usually keep them out because of continual use.) When the clothes come out of the dryer, I immediately sort all clothes into each members’ baskets. (If it needs to stay wrinkle-free, I will lay it on top and over their basket.) For a younger child or for other items such as towels, washcloths, sheets, etc., I will designate other or older, capable children for those items by putting them in their basket as well as their own belongings.

4.     Put it away. Seeing we do 1-4 a day, ( or more if it includes bedding) we try to put it all away at least once a day. Throughout the day, I, or whoever pulls the load from the dryer, will sort laundry and then give the call. In 15 minutes all that laundry can easily be put away by every one. Each person is responsible for what is in his or her basket! Take their basket, put the laundry away, and then put their basket back. In other words, I can wash clothes all day even from returning from camping or a trip, and when it is washed and time to put it away, it only about 15 minutes!! It works. (Beds may take longer, but for regular laundry—It’s Done!)

5.     Socks—the potential nightmare! I am still working on this system. But I do have the boys pen their socks together before laundering (Their socks are all black). The girls are a bit trickier. If I can easily recognize a match, and whom it belongs to by a mark on them, then I will sort the pair into their basket. But if I cant, then it goes into a general sock basket for a “sock matching party” later. When that “party” happens, I dump that smaller sock basket onto a table, and everyone comes and finds their own socks and helps to find other matches as well to sort. The “strays” return to the basket until future matching or discarded. 

 


 

I pray these tips can be an encouragement to each of you whether you have a small family or a large one. Let all things be done decently and in order (1 Cor. 14:40) and all things to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). Many blessings!!

by Tanya 

Comments

  1. I was going through some old blogs and saw that you had posted again! Yay! Glad you are back. I loved all your laundry tricks. Laundry is a never-ending job around our house too. Still haven't figured out where all those missing socks end up. :)

    Victoria

    ReplyDelete
  2. So very, very glad to see you blogging again!! Your blog has always blessed me.

    ReplyDelete

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