My Englishisms

We've been back in the US for one year now. I find it quite funny that I still use some proper English terms. I have had two incidents recently where I have used the English term for something, and the person I was talking to didn't know what I meant. The funny thing is that when I used the words, I couldn't even think of the American word for what I was trying to say.

A couple weeks ago, I was talking to a friend about an issue my mom has with her foot. I said that she was taking physio for it. As I said it, I realized it was the English term as my friend looked at me with questioning look. I continued to try to explain what I meant, but I couldn't think of the American word for the life of me. Finally, she said, "physical therapy"? "Yes, that's it!"

The other incident happened yesterday as I was driving through Starbucks for a coffee. I asked for cream on my mocha. It just came out that way and I assumed everyone knew what cream was. The person who took my order said, "whipped cream?" And, once again I was like, "yes, yes, whipped cream." I didn't even think that, to Americans, cream is thick milk for coffee.

It is good to know that I am not completely Americanized again!

My Laundry Philosophy

I've never been one who likes to do laundry every day. Doing a load or two a day would kill me. It wouldn't be from the washing part, or even folding for that matter. I feel like I would always have baskets or piles of clothes lying around that need to be put away. That would drive me mad. Because of this, I have days planned out for each set of laundry. This way I am not doing laundry every day of the week. Now mind you, as my family has grown, so have the number of days it takes to get the laundry done.

I guess you could say that my laundry schedule starts on Sunday night after the kids are in bed. I grab the towels, as well as the garbage, since Monday morning is garbage day, out of the kids bathroom. I bring them down and throw them in the washer. They take a couple of hours since I wash them on sanitary wash with extremely hot water. Monday then leaves me to the rest of the towels in the house and sometimes a set or two of sheets.

On Monday night, I sort all the kids clothes. This ranges from 4 to 6 loads depending on the season. In the winter it is more, I have a whole load and sometimes two of just jeans. I love the summer loads...shorts, dresses...a lot less clothes to wash, fold and put away. After the kids clothes are sorted, I bring them down and throw in the first load. This is usually jeans, because I know they are easy and quick to fold first thing in the morning when so much is going on. On Monday night, I sometimes have time to switch loads too. This really helps to stay on top of it all on Tuesday.

These photos are of my laundry room on Tuesday, toward the end of the day. I just have the girls load left to fold.

Tuesday I continue to work on the kids clothes. The order of the laundry goes from jeans, to dark, to medium, to whites and then finally on to the girls clothes. I leave theirs for last so I have all the boys done and put into baskets by that point. This way I have room to fold theirs. After the clothes are in the baskets are done, they placed at the bottom of the stairs for Steve to carry up for me. The older three boys all put their own laundry away on Wednesday. I am working on the girls putting their own away. I put the younger one's away on Wednesday morning.

A side-note on the laundry, when each load is done, I stand and fold it right then and there. I don't save it until later, having 6 loads to fold in the evening would stress me out. I used to do it that way, but that has changed as our family and our laundry has grown.

Wednesday and Thursday are my off days, unless it is sheet week. I hope you are not too surprised or grossed out, but I only wash sheets every two weeks. I do ours a bit more often than the kids. I just don't have the time to keep up on it more regularly. Getting two cribs, three twins and one double and one queen made again in the evening takes a good bit of time.

On Friday morning, I sort Steve and my clothes. We usually have two loads, one dark and one medium. I wash our whites with the kids whites on Tuesday. We put our clothes away sometime over the weekend.

And once again, I take the weekends off from laundry unless something like towels, rags or rugs needs to be washed.

You may be wondering about ironing. Well, I iron about once a month or so. I just hang whatever needs to be ironed in the laundry room closet and wait until there is enough in there to make it worth the effort. I buy wrinkle free shirts and pants/trousers for Steve and pull them right out of the dryer when they are done. It is very rare that they need to be ironed.

Well, I think that is my laundry schedule in a nutshell. I hope this is helpful to someone out there.

Our Weekly Schedule

Well, this is at least my schedule for keeping house. I've pretty much run on the same schedule for years. Running a household of a large family is a lot of work, therefore for my sanity I need to have a plan. Some weeks don't go as planned and wrenches are thrown into them (ex. sick kids, doctors appointments, long weekends, etc.) These weeks tend to throw me off, and I get a bit frazzled and stressed. Life does happen and wrenches are thrown in quite often, so I need to remember that the plan is a tool and not my master. God is my master and He will give me the strength and motivation to face whatever challenges the weeks bring. What helps me to get back into the groove is knowing the plan for the rest of the week and catching back up. As soon as I am back to the plan, I am a much calmer momma.

Monday - laundry (I'll post my laundry story in the next blog.), cleaning main floor of the house for small group on Monday night (vacuuming, dusting, mopping, and cleaning the main floor bathroom, also a quick pick up of the basement if time is allowed), sorting the kids clothes (This happens after small group and after the kids are in bed. I throw in the first load too!)

Tuesday - Kids laundry (more next post), this takes up most of my day

Wednesday - upstairs cleaning, bathrooms, vacuuming (main floor again too)

Thursday - things that didn't get done earlier in the week

Friday - Laundry (mine and Steve's clothes), vacuuming main floor and a quick wet mop to be ready for the weekend

Saturday - the weekends are for projects around the house and the yard (mowing, weeding, organizing, cleaning kids bedrooms, etc.) and for running errands (For the most part, during the week I am at home. I do run out and get groceries, but don't do any other shopping. There just isn't time in the day.)

Sunday - Day of REST (nap for momma)

I think I could probably do a couple more posts on dinner and on getting groceries. I think I'll save those for another day. Next up, I'll work on our laundry routine.