Mom to the 9

i’ve been asked a few times over the years how we manage having nine kids. i’m no expert, but i’ve learned a few things that work well for us. for me actually, these things work well for me. i had the idea to share some of what i’ve learned so i’m starting Tip Tuesday. i hoped to post earlier in the day, but well, i have nine kids.  okay, only eight at home right now, but six of them are schooling remotely so, my hands are a bit full during school hours. and then there’s dinner. and bedtime. so here goes…my first tip is about laundry.

do it every day.

yes, do the laundry every day.

if i do the laundry every day, i sometimes only have one or two loads. there are 10 people in this house, but for years there were 11.

our dirty laundry is fairly easy to round up as we have two places where it gathers. we have a hamper in our hall bathroom and a hamper, um, well actually a pile, on the basement stairs. (our laundry room is in the basement. it’s fine. i’m fine.) i’m not running from room to room gathering everyone’s dirty clothes so you put it in the two places i’ve said it can go, or i’m not washing it.

i try to start the laundry in the morning so i sort the clothes that are upstairs first. then i bring those baskets to the top of the basement stairs where i sort the rest. this only takes about five minutes. i don’t always sort lights and darks. if i know nothing in the darks will bleed i will wash them all together. i always wash the whites separately so i can bleach them. more on that in another post.

here’s where the magic happens.

the laundry is usually done by the afternoon. i leave the lid open so the washer can dry out.

i guess this is a two tip post because i have a tip on folding the laundry…teenagers! our teens vacuum the family room and fold the laundry in there every night we have clean laundry.  they have to do this before they can watch any tv.  other than them giving the wrong clothes to the wrong kids sometimes, this has worked out very well. 

the only way i can think of making my laundry routine any better is if it always had this view. sigh…

many years ago i heard God call me to this-to this crazy life with 9 kids from hard places. i didn’t hear Him audibly, but what He said was unmistakable.  when i asked Him “why me? why does my life have to different from everyone else’s?” (all of my friends were starting to have babies), He clearly said, “why not you? why can’t I do something different with you?” it was at that moment that i surrendered to whatever His plans were for me.

over the years i’ve heard Him tell me to share this story more. His story. the story He’s written for me. and over the years i have shared. but there’s something different happening now. i have already been using mom to the 9 for email, but a few weeks ago He showed me i should use it for writing too. and that i should write often.  that i should share the big things and the little things. the easy things and the hard things. the things i’ve learned. the things i still need to work on. how He never leaves more or forsakes me and how He carries me through each long day and each short night(short because i could always use more sleep!).

on new year’s eve we watched the elevation church praise party. they sang one of our family’s favorite songs-RATTLE! we’ve heard it so many times. their graves into gardens album was our soundtrack for the weeks right after we lost josh’s dad. but on new year’s eve i heard the song in a different way. when they said “God said live, you’ve gotta live” i felt like it was for my mother-in-law. she has been living beautifully after losing her husband, but it seemed like an encouragement for her to keep going. then i felt like “God said live, you’ve gotta live” was also meant for me. He’s given me this story to live out and i’ve been living it, but now it’s time to really live it.

LIVE! is my word for the year.  i haven’t chosen one for the past few years. on new year’s eve it felt like the it almost jumped out of the tv at me saying, “i’m your word! LIVE!”.

so, here we go.

p.s. my favorite new year countdown of all time is at the 9:29 mark!