by Claire
There was a Mom Meltdown this week. It was a particularly stressful week at work and Steve was out of town on business for part of the week and the last full week of school piled on lots of extra to-do’s…and then last night it happened.
I like to think I keep a pretty good handle on all of the laundry that we create as a large family. I have a system and it seems to work…keeps things moving and we aren’t facing “Mount Washmore” on the weekends. But even with a system that the kids are good about following…we have no control over towel use! I know, I know…this should be so simple! Make a 3 day or 5 day or one week use rule, assign a color to each child, provide an easy to use place in the bathroom for them to hang a towel…etc. For whatever reason, this towel issue is something we just can’t get!
On Wednesday night of this week I washed towels and put them in the bathroom cabinet. Less than 24 hours later, I hear a DS ask for towels right before he took his shower. There were at least 5 clean towels in that cabinet! Where did they go?! It didn’t take long to realize they had all been used! And then it didn’t take much longer for this to really upset me! After a short meltdown that admittedly became somewhat comical (don’t worry…no one laughed at that time…but later we ALL did!) we’ve formulated a towel management plan.
During our post-meltdown chat, it was reported that I said at one point “if you don’t stop using a towel per shower…pause…pause….there will be NO towels in this house!” Oh and maybe at some point I said that I better not see another “save the environment” poster since they are not thinking about the environment when they use so many towels!!! Hey at least we are laughing I guess…because that does sound pretty ridiculous! I am thankful that the kids and I can crack up when the time is right…and then get serious about tackling the issue! That is a gift.
Now if we could just make all the socks that enter the washer later exit the dryer…we’d be set!
Born and raised in Texas. I’ve at least driven through every state in the US courtesy of a roadtrip loving Dad.
I’m single with two children and a good parenting relationship with their father.
I am a “life is just half full of funny” kinda gal. Humor is my saving grace and I am thankful for it every single day. I have a strong Catholic faith and am thankful for that foundation.
I read a lot for a living but still enjoy a good book. I love biographies but in recent years have found the need for fun fictional books–sadly, for a long time I just didn’t enjoy fiction!
I love live theatre of any kind–from local productions to Broadway.
I love to scrapbook and pride myself in my kids’ albums.
I love being a mom but also love my career. I’m blessed to have found a balance allowing me to be at everything my kids need and want me to be at–while also having a career.
Favorite Quotes: Well behaved women rarely make history.
Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out. -James Bryant Conant
…… I thought for sure you were going to say you ran out and bought more towels!!!!!
Mags… That is funny. There was indeed a time that you would have been right! Good news is that never crossed my mind…not that throwing out all towels is a better idea!
I use a clean towel every time I shower and every time I wash my face. When I went to college, I think I was the only student that purchased 12, yes 12 bath towels. It grosses me out to use a bath towel more than once. That’s me.
To avoid Mount Rushmore, I do at least one load a day. I say at least because when I moved to this smaller apartment, I inherited the tiniest stackable washer. Honestly, when my friend saw it he said, “I don’t think even one pair of my underwear will fit in there.” It was funny. Anyway, my washer only handles about 1/3 to 1/2 of a regular load so I have to do at least 2 loads to my former one load. The good news is I will probably buy a house next year and the first thing I’ll buy is a FULL size washer/dryer.
I say do what works for your family:)
I had one of those mini stackable washer/dryer too! They’re almost comical! I used to joke that I could wash one outfit at a time…in the summer…when outfits have less fabric!
We do the one load a day thing too. That’s the only way in my mind.
Hilarious. My kids are the opposite. They will use the same towels forever, and leave them on the floor in between (unless “reminded” to hang them up). I’m pretty sure there’s a happy medium to be found somewhere.
I’m guilty of using a towel everyday and so are my kiddos…hubby keeps his for a few days. They do pile up very quickly so I can totally sympathize. A freakout every now and then is needed for us to maintain our sanity! lol!
If you crack this code, let me know. My wife uses 2 per day. One for hair and other for body. I don’t see how using a towel twice is gross. You are supposedly clean when you use it. If you hang it up so it can dry properly it doesn’t get stinky for a while. This is one marriage thing we haven’t figured out yet (by which I mean she doesn’t see it my way yet, of course).
Adam: I bought a really nice microfiber hair towel. About 8 bucks here but I see Amazon has them way cheaper. Buy her one and see if she can use it over and over. It will dry between showers (unless she is showering more than once a day.) Even if she goes out and buys another 6 and uses one a day, at least it takes up less space in the washer and dryer!
I bought mine because a bad back meant I couldn’t comfortable handle the weight of a full size towel on my head. But have bought three (one for my suitcase and 2 at home.)
Our family routine is one set of towels each a week. But we each have 2 wash cloths, one for face, one for body. And we only shower every second day so it is only a max of 4 showers or sponge baths per set of towels.
Claire – show them you are serious about the no bath towels rule and put a fan on the counter in the bathroom and tell them that from now on in they have to blow dry themselves!
Maybe that will get them taking reusing towels seriously!
We replace our towels weekly. Color coding is a good idea.
This reminds me I was watching Dr. Oz or something like that and he said (married) men and women shouldn’t share their towels (exchanging bacteria, etc.). I was kind of grossed out by this – why would one share a towel? Well, my dh informed me that he always thought I was weird that I did not want to share a towel. ??? I had no idea. I am keeping my own towel, thanks!
Washing “anything” after every use is probably a bit excessive.
Our family of 7 always used a new towel for each bath. I went to summer camp one time for 2 weeks, and my mother almost had a stroke when she realized I took about 16 towels.