I have more to say on Laundry! Suddenly, we are doing slightly *less* than a load a day. Until last month we were creating about 1.25-1.5 loads of laundry a day. Yesterday I didn't do laundry! For our laundry everything is washed together at 40 degrees (warm?) except delicates, which is all washed at cold delicate. I was using laundry pods when the babies were little because I didn't have time to measure or scoop. Life must be getting easier because I now have time to measure. Or scoop. I think that powder cleans better, but it also makes more mess. Liquid laundry detergent smells better, but I think I use more and then it's more expensive.
For your laundry do you use Pods? Powder? Liquid? Do you have a preference?
Transitionss
The kids go back to school on the 4th. I go back to work on the 17th. I feel like that's a long time but also... it's not. It's 5 days of nanny care, and 1 day of Andy care (Andy doesn't work on Mondays). Transitions are A LOT. Isaac is in a new class, Lilah is in a new school AND a new nursery. Twins have a new nanny. It is the first time we will have a nanny. We also need to swap bedrooms around in our house which is a huge giant job. No wonder things feel unsettled. The Lazy Genius talked about a opening and closing summer ceremonies recently and this sounds amazing.
Do you do an opening or closing ceremony for summer? What would you do if you did?
Pillows
We need new pillows. I feel like our pillows are flat. They are probably old. I don't mind spending money on pillows but I'm pretty sure I spent money on these pillows and now they are flat and old.
How long do pillows last? How do you chose pillows? Do you like your Pillows? And for extra credit - do you say PEL-LOW or PIL-LOW?
Clothes & Decluttering
Decluttering is going well - so well that I am wearing the same 3-4 tops every day. Which is great but they are wearing out pretty quickly! I probably need more durable clothing. I discovered a hole in the armpit of one of my favourite shirts recently. It's linen! It looks pretty! Can this be repaired? Wont a patch look silly? I emailed the company but they said it was outside their 6 month warranty. Waah.
While decluttering my sports clothes drawer I decided I need to get rid of some of my road cycling gear. I am not a road cyclist anymore. I gave away my clip shoes. I don't need a good pair of cycling bibs and a second crap pair. I don't need 3 road jerseys (but I did keep 2... my old club jersey and a baggy one).
Last week I dropped a bag off at the baby bank that included 1/2 a bag of size 6 nappies and I was so happy to get them out of my house! But I am feeling a bit sad on some of the charity pieces because this really is the *end* of baby times for me. I definitely don't want or need any more babies... but also... transition!
How often do you declutter clothes? Do you ever feel sad to say goodbye to your things? Do your things represent your stage of life or are things just *things*?
Food
All I do is cook food and eat food and make meals and it's soo tedious and I feel like there is no rythem to it. Why is lunch a thing? Isn't dinner and breakfast enough for all these small people? And snacks too... so much food.
I am currently obsessed with making tuna salad. Also, I LOVE my food processor so much. I made a giant soup in 5 minutes of chopping. I make tuna salad with extra veggies but whizzing up the veggies. I made a shortcrust pastry! I grate a bunch of courgette really really quickly! It's such a magic machine.
Do you have a food processor? Do you love it?
I may get a bit "wistful" when decluttering (which is ongoing for me) but nothing major. After I put the item into the give away pile, usually there is a good reason: damaged, doesn't fit anymore, or it fits but makes me feel like sausage in a casing. I have very few things already, i.e only three pairs of jeans, so when I get rid of something, I kind of do have to replace it.
ReplyDeleteOh and pillow... I launder mine on the regular. Like, every change of seasons, then dry them out in the open air.
ReplyDeleteI think we have down pillows so I've been worried about washing them. Maybe I should give it a try. Do you wash down pillows or synthetic?
DeleteHi Rachel! I machine wash my down pillows in warm water, and put them in the dryer with dryer balls. They fluff up again really nicely! -Ricki
DeleteI just had our 3rd (and planning on final) baby and remember reading about your initial posts when you were pregnant with the twins! Boy do I feel we are in the pod laundry stage of life but it's encouraging to know you move past that.
ReplyDeleteI have never been emotional decluttering but I feel it in my bones now. My son is just 1 month old so we aren't getting rid of anything, but just knowing "this is the last baby I'll use the swaddle with!" etc. makes me really emotional.
Oh congrats on your one month old! Man those times are hard. ANd yeah, pod laundry stage was so so important. It's great to come out the other side and recognize when we do!
DeleteWe have four swaddle blankets I can't part with. I'll save them for car blankets for now. It's great to get rid of most stuff (goodbye all sleepsuits!) but I guess being attached to some things just makes me human haha.
We use the cheapest liquid detergent that exists (in the States it's called Era). I have tried to switch to something easier and/or with better ingredients, but every time I switch I break out into a rash. I can't figure out what ingredient causes the rash, so we stick with Era.
ReplyDeleteI say pill-owe. I have a fancysmancy one because my neck is a special snowflake and if I sleep on a regular pillow I can't move my neck for a week. I even travel with my pillow. My pillow costs $200, which is RIDICULOUS and should be replace every year, but actually gets replaced every 18-24 months. (https://honeydewsleep.com/collections/pillows/products/the-scrumptious-gift-pack - Yes, I know I'm insane. But I can move my neck.)
I definitely have a hard time parting with certain things... but I do try to be better giving things away that I don't longer use/wear. It's freeing in a way to declutter (esp. if you have little space).
ReplyDeleteI recently bought two new pillows (PIL-LOWs) at Ikea. I think the last ones were from there too. They lasted maybe 8 years? I think.
Linen is ephemeral. I buy two pairs of linen pants for summer, and by fall, the inseams and crotch are getting thin. Sometimes I tell myself no one sees that. Then they split.
ReplyDelete