Ceaberry's Homesteading: Laundry...

I may just live here with my three young children but the laundry has a different reality to it. Now I do not personally go trough a lot of laundry but my kids, oh my goodness.

I use the Kon Marie method of folding, I live in a decent sized house with as little storage space as they could have mustered when they built it. The story goes that the original occupants went from a one room shack in the woods to this house, it must have felt like a mansion to 4 kids. My ex and his family moved into here from a trailer just up the road and they felt like the house was again like a mansion. I on the other hand am from Dallas, TX. Our houses were sizable, we each had our own rooms for the most part and there was always a living room, den, kitchen, a couple of bathrooms and back and front yards that were again, sizable. That doesn't mean I came form a rich family, that's just the difference in socioeconomics of the two places I have lived in my life. I lived in and out of dorm rooms for about 9 years, so trust me when I say I got good at two things: 1. using small spaces and 2. minimalism.

Myself -- I have a nice sized wardrobe, and a couple of essentials. I own 2 pairs of shoes. Crocs and muck boots. We were spending over $600 a year on someone else's shoes and boots so I never got a chance to grow a shoe collection. I wear one outfit everyday and if jeans are involved they may stretch a few days.

Penelope -- My kids have PLENTY of clothes, they have 3 houses worth of clothes. She wears PJs, then school clothes, then play clothes, then a different set of PJs plus undies and socks. For 5 days, then the weekend its normally just PJs and play clothes.

Calliope -- PJs and play clothes all the way for her but we are potty training. So we may go through quite a few pants and undies in one day. Or the random I got my PJs in the toilet.

Elizabeth -- I have resorted to putting her in body suits (onesies) that I refer to as her wearable bibs. Teething, spitting up, starting baby food, randomly spitting milk, and other such things and this girl goes through some clothes.

Let's add that I am "given" extra clothes and that laundry day is once a week so it all builds up. I am slowly working on getting my house tightened up so I had to undo the dressers and then refold all that laundry so it now flows better. It takes time, and between wood, chickens, household chores, taking care of myself and my kids, I was told that they didn't know how I did it all. I don't know how I do it all, and sometimes I don't do it all. I prioritize. I have the kids for the next 5 days. I have wood, food, and their clothes ready for them. After the dust settles and they go blissfully on to wreck their dad's and grandparents houses I have to start all over again. Things that need to be replenished are restocked, reorganized and resettled for the next go round. Then I take care of the animals and any of the chores with them I can't get done while they are here (like getting their food restocked and mucking out the coop), then getting the wood settled back into the basement to start drying since I probably used all that I brought in plus some. On top of that I schedule their appointments while I have them and mine when I don't. I go to physical therapy twice a week and I have to do that while they aren't here.

That's the secret life no-one talks about with homesteading. Yes, its fun with animals, gardening, innovating, going around and fixing up the property. But the nitty gritty life that some people who don't have those others things find hard to do by itself still has to get done. It seems like I complain, I don't. I am trying to be as real as I can, it isn't sunshine and roses and to homestead is a commitment that is not an easy task for anyone to undergo. Good luck and may the laundry gnomes not take your lone socks!