laundry

for as long as i can remember, i've had a problem putting laundry away. even as a kid, my room was littered with not just dirty clothes, but clean clothes as well. that drove my parents crazy - absolutely crazy. i never really thought about it...i just always assumed i was a slob.

but you know what i realized this morning? (call it an epiphany) it's not that i'm lazy or a slob. it's that laundry overwhelms me (ok, you argue, lots of people are overwhelmed by laundry. but wait. i'll explain).

see, it's not that i don't like putting it away, it's that i don't know where to start. if i have a basket of clean white laundry, it's not just a basket of whites. it's socks, it's tshirts to work out in, it's tshirts to sleep in, it's sport bras and it's underpants. too many different things that all go in different drawers or dressers in different parts of my room. it's completely overwhelming to me and i can't figure out where to start. i look at this jumble of clothes and my mind literally goes blank. i can't even get started.

sounds crazy, doesn't it? my mom was diagnosed with adult ADD and she is convinced that i have it, too. she may be right. so i'd like to think that this is just an ADD thing. I have the same problem emptying the dishwasher. it's not just plates and dishes and silverware. it's coffee cups and drinking cups and sippy cups. it's dinner plates, plastic kid plates, and snack plates. it's steak knives, butter knives, plastic kid forks, salad forks and dinner forks. and then there's all the random tupperware thrown in wherever it fits. and the lids. oh, the lids. they kill me.

but this morning as i stared at three laundry baskets full of clean laundry in my bedroom, i had a thought. what if i got more laundry baskets and instead of sorting dirty laundry by whites and darks, i sorted it by what it is and where it goes? so i'd have a basket for white socks and one for black socks. i'd have a basket for just jeans and a basket for just workout clothes. and so and so on. i'd have lots of laundry baskets but at least i'd be able to put clothes away.

it's worth a shot. i think i'm heading to target today to pick up some more laundry baskets. wish me luck.