Monday, May 11, 2015

Managing the Laundry Monster #LazyParentsGuide

I have five kids who range in age from 5-13 and also have me one of them things called a "husband," so that means I have laundry that is larger than an infant's laundry and I have a lot of it.

Why am I not doing laundry daily like my big-family fabulous mom counterparts?

Why am I not freaking out over laundry and the lack of clean clothing when all of us barely have any clothes compared to the rest of America?

Why are there not piles and piles of it on my basement floor waiting to be done and getting all moldy and gross while a cat we don't have, but could have, pees all over it?

Read on to find out my lazy method for laundry and pick the things that work for you so you have more time to have fun with your kids or read a book or do whatever you gotta do.



  1. I do not sort laundry. Ever. I wash underwear with towels and everything else. Yes, I know there are poop remnants on underwear. I don't care. You know why? Because my family is and always has been one of the healthiest families I know. I'm doing something right in being entirely gross. And I must not buy clothing that is super bright and bleeds because I don't think I've ever turned my husband's underwear pink. You can also solve that problem by buying colorful underwear for your whole family.
  2. I don't wash sheets and bath towels all the time. If a bath towel is used properly ... to dry off a wet, clean body and then hung up to dry out ... you should not have to wash it every time you use it. As for sheets ... I'm not going to tell you how long I go before changing those but they don't stink or anything!
  3. I do not iron. Ever. Yes, my husband goes to work wrinkly sometimes. He does not care. I save a lot of time. I suppose he must buy himself clothing that doesn't wrinkle easily so there's another tip for you. It started because irons freak me out with their HOTNESS and I always had a crazy baby or toddler running around and I just KNEW one of them would end up burnt and crispy so I just said SCREW IT to be 100% safe.
  4. If I leave the laundry in overnight accidentally I put a few drops of tea tree oil in the washer and wash it again. Then I try not to forget it again.
  5. Once the laundry is dry I have two kids go to the basement and bring it up to my bedroom for sorting. I send two kids because they get scared of the basement, which is entirely normal.
  6. Once the laundry is on my bed, I quickly sort it out and run girl stuff to the girls' room and boy stuff to the boys' room and they put their own stuff away when they want. When I've had babies I put their stuff away but by age 6 your kid should be able to do it themselves and even earlier than that if you want to actually take the time to work with them. Then I put away my own stuff and my husband's.
Got more laundry tips for us? Leave them in the comments!

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Clean the Microwave Fast #LazyParentsGuide

Welcome to the maiden post on The Lazy Parent's Guide to Life blog! I was actually cleaning the microwave tonight in a lazy manner and thinking about an ebook I wrote a long time ago that I am working on updating. I got a cover made for it and everything! And I realized maybe I should have a blog to go along with the book with extra tips to make our lives as parents (and grandparents) easier.

Okay, so all you have to do when your microwave gets nasty (I wish I had a BEFORE pic so badly) is take a wet sponge and lay it in the microwave (I take out the round tray first and wash it in the sink) for 30 seconds.

Open the microwave and carefully take out the sponge and you have a steam-cleaned microwave that only needs a dry towel to swipe out the gunk and you are done.

I wish I had tried this long ago ... it makes cleaning the microwave fast and kinda fun and it's something the kids can even do for you. And I am all about having the kids do things so (1) they can learn life skills (2) they can feel helpful (3) you can take a dang break every now and then to do something cool like write on your blog or read a page of a book for a change.

Here's the book I'm working on to go with the blog!