Mess Busters: Clothes Wars!
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Words of Encouragement - Before you start
Tackle the Job - How to Win the War
How are you doing? - Day 2 Encouragement

Words of Encouragement

Before we start this task here are a few tips and cautions that should help the progress. After all, even 3 steps forward and only 2 back is progress.

• Preplan your menu for next week, that gets this job out of the way, and you won’t have to think about it, just ready, set, go. For those of you that didn’t get or save the stuff about menu planning, don’t worry about it right now, we will save that for another volume. For now, just grab a calendar and write in a menu plan. (just like if you were in a restaurant for a week).
  
  
• Box hint. Before you start or as soon as possible ( within a day or two) be sure you have at least 1 box for every member of your household and a couple of spare ones. If you have a shortage of space, just put them in your yard and cover them with a tarp till you need them. Don’t worry, they won’t stay there long.
  
  
• Make sure you have a good supply of washing stuff, eg. Tide, Bounce, Bleach etc., what ever you regularly use.
  
  
• Plan your work space. For HSers you will need to plan your workspace where you can HS at the same time. Eg. In my house home schooling is often done in the kitchen at the table. My work space is the kitchen floor around my chair . This allows me to work and supervise etc.
  
  
• Keep kitchen timer handy. Any timer you can set will do, even an oven timer or old alarm clock.
  
  
• Be aware of the potential pitfalls such as the following:
  
  

  1. Law Of Gravity

     If your house is anything like mine, and you start cleaning against the flow of gravity, inevitably, messies will be created behind you. If possible work the top floor down. If this is not possible, guard your rear flank! Regularly check that others are not messing behind you. Remember we will only work in one direction. Eg. if you start on the main floor and put stuff on the stairs to go up ( and of course get put away) you can be assured that someone will knock it down off the stairs. If, on the other hand, you start up, and put something on the stairs to go down( to put away later) when it gets knocked down the stairs by someone, we call this help! Do you get the idea?

  2. Law Of Frustration

     The degree of frustration ( and depression) is equal to the size of the project undertaken. Therefore view each task in small 15 minute blocks. For example, one room , one child, one drawer at a time. This cuts the enemy down to size, allows for many successes( even though small), provides for steady encouragement as you see the completion of each task, and lastly wards off frustration and depression.

  3. Law Of Commitment

     The more obvious the commitment the more persistent the distraction. If your children know you are planning to clean up, you can be sure this will be the time they need your help outside. Make your commitment privately, between yourself, God and this group. It will be harder for them to distract you if they are unaware.

• Last but not least, remember this task is about progress. We are not about to take on everything so don’t view the messies this way. It will overwhelm you to the point of Freeze up. We are going to look at everything in 15 minute pieces. Now that’s progress!! Also, we are not on a time deadline, we have until eternity to “finish” the job. We are just going to handle it “One step at a time”
  
  
• The 23 Psalm as it applies to my Laundry Room.......
  
  Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of my Laundry room I will fear no evil.
  For Thou art with me. Thy laundry basket and Tide comfort me.
  Thou preparest a folding table before me in the presence of my enemies.
  Thou anointest my soul with songs, my soap measure overfloweth.
  Surly goodness and organization will follow me all the days of this week,
  as I dwell in the House of the Lord, forever.
  
  

• Here is our prayer and scriptures for this week. One of my favourites, from the 3rd chapter of Ecclesiastes:

  “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:....... a time to search and a time to give up........ a time to keep and a time to throw away........ a time to tear and a time to mend....... " So I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot.

  Dear Heavenly Father, How gracious are your mercies. As we read and ponder these words we realize you are speaking to us in a very direct way. We commit to you our willingness to clean and organize our homes. We will supply the willingness, you promise to supply the power. We believe it is the time for this activity. We will diligently search for a resolve and missing articles, and we will give up this habit of keeping everything, we will sort for what to keep, and what you would have us throw away,and we will throw it away, we will tear up old stuff for our rags and be frugal and mend when reasonable, and last we pledge to do this with a cheerful heart as you have commanded. We will sing praises as we work and enjoy this undertaking. As we pledge this to you we ask for your blessings and strength, your infinite wisdom and guidance and mostly you peace that passes all understanding. Father let our accomplishments ring out for all to hear how mighty and faithful you are in all of our lives and tasks regardless of their size. We thank you for your precious word, and thank you for your great wisdom in providing these instructions. . You have instructed us in even the small details of our lives. We ask all this in Jesus name, Amen.

• ---

  Tackle the Job

  This is what I refer to clothes wars! Similar to star wars that is using the sword to cut the pile down to a managable size. In my house I do this:

  • (Child by child) Take all clothes and put in one pile.
    
    
  • Then I match sets eg shirt, pant underwear. I make 7 sets. This goes into the dresser drawer. (No socks) I weed through and find the best "sets". All other articles for that season are disgarded (Goodwill, rag bag etc.) I will also make up to 2 sets of good clothes. These get put in the closet. Each child has 9 sets of clothes and no more.
    
    
  • All out of season clothes that will fit next year go into a box marked "Boy winter". Box is sealed (very important if ADD child) and stored on top of bedroom closet.
    
    
  • I have a cheap bookcase in all my kid's closets. This holds one extra set of bedding for the bed as well as extra blanket.
    
    
  • Each child has a laundry hamper in their room.
    
    
  • For girls the same principle applies. The only exception may be an extra dress or skirt.
    
    
  • I keep any extra underwear, swim suit and perhaps a spare t-shirt or two ( just in case) in a drawer all of its own.
    
    
  • On the bookshelf each child has a swim towel (this is the one they take to the pool with their name on it, it is not used in the bathroom or at home, just for swimming. In our house they each have two as the kids are in swim club and swim 4 or 5 days a week).
    
    
  • Next, kid by kid, go through boots, shoes, coats. My kids have one spring/summer/fall coat for use all the time, and one good coat. The good coat I keep clean and hung in the front hall closet. At the back door I have a bench and three coat hooks. Hook for coat and foot wear goes under the bench. (I am still trying to convinence hubby to make me three small lockers--like school lockers but without door). Also, each has one pair of shoes also kept in front hall cupboard. As each season passes I change the footwear they use from under the bench ( out of season footwear is kept in the front hall closet in a box. They also each have one knap sac on their hook.
    
    
  • Each child is color coded. Oldest boy is green (his laundry basket is green, blankets for his room green, swim towels green, mitts, hats, etc). Makes for easy ID. Green was chosen as I had decorated his room in yellow and green. Next boy is blue, girl is pink, etc.
    
    
  
  
  

  I know it can be really hard parting with stuff, but tell yourself that hording is sinful, someone else might really need this stuff. That Helps. BE RUTHLESS!!!!!

  One other closing thought, should you be able to plan a day to tackle Clothes wars, make sure you have a plan to discard extras THAT DAY. Do not just put them in bags or boxes, remove them from your house. If you don't, I guarantee the discarded pile will grow legs and make their way back into the main stream !

  If possible, it is best to do all the kids rooms on the same day when none of them are home, (send them off with dad for the day).

  The effects of this Clothes Wars! system are:

  1. Less laundry to wash as there is a max of 7 sets per kid.
     
     
  2. Helps me stay on task and do laundry regularily
     
     
  3. Clothes get worn evenly that is, I dont find 6 months later that my daughter has outgrown a pair of pants she never wears.
     
     
  4. Forces the kids to keep on task about their clothes and helps them treat them more responsibily
     
     
  5. If they decide to trash their room, it isn't as bad as when the drawers are full to overflowing.
     
     
  6. I can now do all laundry for all 5 of us in 1 day instead of 3 days per week. Also it is only about 4 loads instead of 10+
     
     
  7. I am no longer washing clean clothes ( used to do lots of this and it drove me nuts as kids put what ever they didn't feel like wearing into the laundry instead of back in drawer, or just threw it on the floor thus getting covered in dog hair etc....)
     
     
  8. Super easy to keep track of mending.
     
     
  
  
  

  A couple of other hints:

  I used to keep an old dresser in the laundry room where I kept all future clothes ( hand me downs that don't fit yet) but have since disgarded this as I found that it just caused more work than necessary. Now I just keep one box in the laundry room and go through it one day at the start of each new season. Since I have done this with my family, no one is the least bit worse for wear and life is much better. Last but not least, I keep one small laundry hamper on top of the dryer for all the socks. This has become necessary as my kids hate wearing socks. This way I can just grab a pair and put them on the kids before we go out. If they put them on in the a.m. when they get dressed I can be sure I will find them somewhere in the house as inevetably they will have taken them off.

  Also, as one set gets worn out, I replace it. One set at a time. This way I don't have a big outlay of money at any one given time for clothes. Also, it allows me to keep track of what they may need in the future. This is important for us as winter clothing here can be the national debt if I had to outfit all my kids each winter. Once the snow is gone, I wash and repair any winter wear, (discard any unusables) and make mental note of what I will be needing next year. Then I try and catch year-end sales.

  Remember the trademark of ADD coaches O.H.I.O ( only handle it once!)

  I have great organizational stuff around my house. I got the Calender creator Plus computer program a couple of years ago, spent a month or so imputting info and now I just hit a button and out prints my weekly menu plan, grocery shopping list, chores list ( including annual, semi-annual and quarterly stuff like clean stove). I do know that as long as I keep on task, i.e. keep to the schedule of housework, menus, laundry, etc, life around here goes really smooth. When I get lazy or just plain frustrated, everyone really suffers.

  How are you doing?

  I hope you made some good progress in the clothes department today. Sit back and see if you can recognize some accomplishments. Where did you take 3 steps forward and 2 or less back? This is what it is all about. Even one drawer down is one less to tackle tomorrow!

  Tomorrow, make it your goal to complete at least 2 loads of wash. Wash, dry, sort, and PUT AWAY this is the most important. It you only have time to do one load completely ( to the put away state) then only do one. If God graces you with more time, try for 3!!

  While doing this job, enlist the assistance one at least one helper for 15 minutes. Set your timer if need be. For every minute of help given reward them for an equal minute of "free time" ( or something). This is training up a child in the way he should go. After all we won't be visiting his home once a week to put his laundry away once he has moved out. And don't send him to put it away unsupervised ( you will find it next day under the bed) supervise the training. After all when the cats away, the mouse will play. Don't do it for him, but supervise and give that needed verbal instructions ( the ones we do over and over and over...........)

  Remember organizing is our goal. Steady as she goes........

  by Johann DeWolfe

  ©Copyright 2005 by ADHD of the Christian Kind.