I am literally pausing in the middle of my all-the-crap-I-have-to-do-before-bed routine to say this:

…and another thing I hate about winter is all the freakin’ extra laundry!

There. Phew. Got that out of my system. I was just standing in front of my washing machine, digging through soggy socks and layers of undershirts and sweaters, dreaming of the day when my loads will be cut by two-thirds thanks to shorts and t-shirts. I don’t hate doing the laundry. I even find a certain satisfaction in the quiet rhythm of sorting and folding. It’s putting away the laundry I can’t get into or keep on top of. So we end up with baskets of clean, neatly folded laundry hanging out in the laundry room or the upstairs hallway or stacked on top of dressers. Since I started sorting the clean clothes directly from the dryer into baskets for (1) the boys, (2) the girls, (3) the grown-ups, (4) the linens, and (5) the kitchen and outerwear, I’ve found that it’s rather easier for me to have the baskets downstairs in the laundry room where I can quickly pick clean outfits for all four kids in the morning. And if someone needs a pair of socks, voila! And if I by some miracle get a chance to take a shower, voila! Clean clothes for me too.

Who needs dressers? Really.