My Love Affair with Laundry Day

My entire life I've hated laundry. I hate taking it out to the garage (in California, w/d are located in the garage). I hate sorting it. I hate loading in the machines. It hurts my back so much to deal with it. And then wait 30-45 minutes, go back out, pick up heavier clothes and put them into the dryer - which is even lower than the washer.

Then after that's all done, I get to fold the laundry and put it away. There were days when I would just throw it in a pile on the couch and that was my dresser. That doesn't go over so well when you have a family though - that's more of a single adult or college student solution.

Laundry day was even worse when I lived in an apartment and had to carry 50 lbs of clothes to the laundry room (halfway across the complex) through rain or snow. And then to get there and only find out that all the machines were being used, or someone took my CLEAN clothes out of the washer and threw them on the floor.

But now, I have a love affair with doing laundry. What changed, you might ask? Well, I use cloth diapers. For the last 6 months or so we've been using cloth diapers. We don't even use the fanciest or prettiest diapers. We have a small stash of Econobum and Flip diapers. And a few that I've made myself. But something about washing them and knowing that they are clean and ready to go on my daughter's bottom makes me giddy. To know that I'm helping the environment by not throwing away chemicals and plastic filled with human waste. Knowing that her bottom is healthier because of the cloth. It all brings a big smile to my face.

And when it's warm and sunny outside, I love to take the diapers from the washing machine and put them on the clothesline outside. It gives my daughter a chance to play outside with the dog while I do my part and save the environment just a little bit more.