If someone asked you to name one of the biggest household chores you hate doing, what would it be? For a lot of people the answer is laundry. It’s a pain in the neck and it never seems to end. If you have kids, you’re constantly turning socks right-side out and extracting underwear from jeans just so you can sort it all. Then, after washing, drying, and carefully folding it all, you hand your teenage son his neatly stacked clean clothes just to see him:

a. Throw it all together in an overcrowded drawer,
b. Toss them on the bed where he lays on them to play video games, knocking half of them onto the floor, or
c. Relocate the whole stack to a desk or chair claiming he’s setting out his clothes for the next few days.

The whole thing is an exercise in frustration. We’ve been working to resolve this through desperate attempts to get the kids to help with the laundry. It’s sort of working, so I thought I’d share my suggestions here. I came up with 10 Steps to work your way to laundry freedom.

Step 1: Get them to help gather laundry
My youngest is willing to gather up the laundry as long as he can throw it all over the place. Remember, it’s dirty laundry and you’re about to wash it anyway. In our case, all of our bedrooms are upstairs and the laundry is on the first floor. He gets the laundry from each bedroom and throws it in a big pile in the hallway near the top of the stairs. Then, he shoves the whole stack down the stairs and sort of slides down with it like he’s on some amusement park ride. Finally, he does his best bulldozer impression to make a big pile in the living room to be sorted.

Step 2: Have them put away their own laundry
For a long time now, we rarely put our kids’ clothes away. Yes, you may need to hang some things on hangers for them but for the most part they should be able to take a stack of neatly folded clothes and place them in the appropriate dresser drawer.

Step 3: Ask them to move laundry from the washer to the dryer
This is an easy thing for them to do. Move the wet laundry to the dryer, toss in a dryer sheet, and tell them what setting to use. The only thing you have to be careful for is when you have something that you want hung up to dry or need to check because it might be stained. Towels are always a great place to start.

Step 4: Fold towels and put them away
First, the great thing about towels is you don’t care how long they sit in the dryer. I’m kind of picky about how they get folded but I just kept going over it with the kids. I won’t lie. There were several times that I refolded all the towels after they put them away but with more practice they’re starting to meet my standard.

Step 5: Teach them to fold their own clothes
Some of us are particular about how our laundry gets folded. I find myself demonstrating over and over how I want my clothes folded, but a lot of kids just don’t care how their stuff is folded. Work alongside them folding your clothes and letting them fold theirs. Kids will naturally watch you and follow suit. You can correct them if you want, but when it comes down to it, if they really don’t care how their stuff looks you’re going to have a hard time changing that. Eventually they will care.

Step 6: Teach them to use the washing machine
This can be tricky depending on your setup. We have front-loading machines sitting on those over-priced pedestals the salesman talked us into buying. If the detergent bottle is full, it’s all but impossible for the kids to lift it up and pour it in. They also have trouble controlling how much detergent goes in. With modern high-efficiency washers, you need less detergent than you would expect. Again, towels are a great place to start. Many washing machines have a setting specifically for towels so it’s easy for them to remember what setting to use.

Step 7: Teach them to sort the laundry
This is the tough part but we just keep having them help so they understand how to sort it into loads. Not everything makes it into the pile I would put it in, but even my wife and I disagree sometimes on that. Realistically, most fabrics are pretty forgiving especially if you have a newer washing machine. You just don’t want to put that new red shirt in with a load of whites or you may end up with a load of pinks. Our basic sorting is usually jeans, whites, colors, darks, and delicates. Teach them to read labels.

Step 8: Have them do the entire process by themselves
Start with towels again. Have them gather, sort, wash, dry, fold, and put them away. Then work up to the rest of the laundry.

Step 9: Make corrections
Here’s where you have them help fix the stuff they mess up. It will happen. You’ll probably have to throw out a stained shirt that you just can’t get clean after it went through the dryer. You’ll have to refold and rehang clothes that weren’t put away correctly. You may even have to mop up detergent spilled all over the floor. (Pro tip: VINEGAR) I just keep telling myself that it’s only laundry and if the towels aren’t folded exactly how I like them, it will be OK. It will be worth it in the long run when your son goes off to college and impresses the girl of his dreams with his mad laundry skills.

Step 10: Bonus - Teach them to iron
I learned in my high school Home Economics class how to do laundry and iron. I even had homework where I had to completely taken care of two loads of laundry and then iron two pairs of pants and two shirts. It served me well in college when I was in ROTC and our uniforms were expected to be starched and pressed. Who’s got money to pay for that in college? I had more important things in my budget like beer so I did it myself. These days, I take care of all the ironing in the house and haven’t passed the skill on but I hope to eventually.

This went on longer than planned so if you actually read this far then I thank you. If you are looking for some laundry tips, I found some good ones at TheSpruce.com.

I’ll try to write this without complaining.

A week before Easter our six-month old dishwasher broke. Typically when an appliance breaks in my house I attempt to fix it myself but since this was so new I called in for warranty repair. Unfortunately it took a couple days before someone could look at it and then another week and a half to get the part. I know there are people with a lot bigger problems but not having a dishwasher for our family of five was kind of a pain in the neck.

Our evenings are busy enough without spending time washing dishes by hand. My wife and I each pack a lunch for work everyday and the kids usually pack a lunch about once a week. The kids added to the problem by continuing to use dishes as if they didn’t care that we were hand washing everything. That’s probably because they really didn’t care.

The whole traumatic ordeal has forced us to think more about how many dishes we use on a regular basis. It’s a lot. I’m not sure the kids learned much since we didn’t make them help out with the dishes as much as we probably should have. It seemed like by the time we finished with all the craziness of each evening, they were going to bed late. Then my wife and I would end up doing the dishes later.

After two weeks of hand-washing, our dishwasher is repaired and we appreciate the convenience more. We used to get lazy sometimes and leave anything that couldn’t go in the dishwasher until we felt like washing by hand. Sometimes things would sit there for a couple days before we got around to hand washing.

I’m trying not to do that anymore by accepting the fact that the hand-wash items are just part of the evening clean-up routine. After I take care of anything that can go into the dishwasher, I just quickly wash anything that’s left. I love being able to go to bed without dirty dishes sitting around.

Now if I could just figure out what to do with all the papers and stuff my kids put on our kitchen island.

One thing I’m proud of is that even though we are a busy family always on the go, we almost never eat fast food for dinner. In fact, most evenings we still manage to eat dinner all together at the table. Of course, having a teenage son who seems to never leave the table except to find more food gives us more time to gather everyone else around. Last month, I discussed some of the things we do to keep our sanity through all of the running around but today I’d like to talk about some of the quick and easy things we keep on hand to eat.

We love almonds

and they are great for you but they can be expensive and the roasted/salted/flavored variety you find in the store are not exactly the healthiest thing for you. My solution? I buy 10 pounds of raw almonds at a time from D & S Ranches in California. I dry-roast about a pound at a time in the oven and keep them in a sealed glass container for everyone to eat. The extra is stored in the fridge to keep them fresh. It’s not easy to shell out that much money for almonds, but the bulk purchase brings the cost to about $7.50 per pound.

To roast them, I put them on a baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for about 6 - 7 minutes. Then I stir them up a bit and put them back in for another 6 - 7 minutes. You have to pay attention to because they can quickly go from perfectly roasted to having a burned flavor. When they are done, they should have darkened a little and you should hear a crackling sound. I just leave them on the baking sheet to cool. Keep in mind they will continue to cook a little more after you remove them from the oven. I eat them in my Greek yogurt every day.

If you buy raw almonds, you should know that the FDA requires raw almonds to be pasteurized. There are two methods to doing this and one involves a pretty nasty chemical that is banned in many other countries but allowed by the FDA. That’s why I order from D & S Ranches because they do not use chemicals for pasteurization.

We also keep a bag of baby carrots on hand.

We realized a long time ago that regular carrots by the bunch are cheaper, but we just are too lazy to wash, peel, and cut them. Now we just buy the baby carrots and I eat them every day. If we put them on the table at dinner time the kids will dig in too.

There is always a bunch of bananas on our counter.

They make a great snack or breakfast. If they get too ripe, my wife makes banana bread with them. If we can’t keep up on banana bread for some reason, we peel them and put them in a bag in the freezer to use for smoothies. We also keep frozen blueberries in the freezer for the same purpose. The fridge is also stocked with apples, pears, and oranges.

For breakfast, my kids seem to alternate between cereal and pancakes.

I’m not a fan of the cereal even though I ate bushels of it as a kid and usually added sugar to it. I have to admit though, it’s an easy breakfast that the kids can handle themselves. Our tradition is to make pancakes from scratch on Saturday morning. We cook a huge batch so that there are always some left over. Those go in the fridge and the kids warm them up in the toaster during the week.

The recipe we use is on AllRecipes.com but we double it (except for the sugar) and also use a mixture of white and whole wheat flour. We also thaw out some of those frozen blueberries and add them for blueberry pancakes. Occasionally, we mix it up a little and make waffles instead but the kids seem to prefer pancakes. I remember calling waffles “bumpy pancakes” when our oldest was young so he would eat them!

We also have a few go-to meals we seem to make frequently that I’ll save for some other time. We aren’t always the healthiest eaters, but I think we do OK. I think it’s important to teach kids early what is a good snack and what isn’t. I always have part of that song from the 1980’s stuck in my head: “The best foods come in wrappers of their own”. Enjoy.

I recently started a new hobby because i think everyone should have at least one and until I started blogging I didn't really have any.

I have tried golf but still can’t figure out how anyone can justify blocking off 3-4 hours on a Saturday without feeling guilty you aren’t hanging out with your family. I was terrible at it anyway. I was better at brewing beer but again, it’s difficult to set aside a few hours in one block. I gave up on hobbies for years but reading about the health benefits to having some kind of relaxing activity in our lives (like here, here, and here) motivated me to find something.

You may know that I like books even though I keep talking about getting rid of more. When I was on a trip a few months ago I found myself wandering around O’Hare airport in Chicago with some time to kill. Naturally, I wandered into a small bookstore squeezed between two hallways and there I discovered some nice journals by a brand called Moleskine. I’m still not sure what it was about them that I liked so much but they were good quality and came in several different sizes and colors. I was tempted to buy one but the anti-stuff side of me teamed up with the travel-light voice and prevented me from doing so.

Later, I started thinking there’s no reason I couldn’t make my own. Why not learn a new skill and bind my own journals? Shortly after returning home, I picked up two books from the local library and looked through them for ideas and a supply list. It didn’t look that hard to cut, sew, and glue paper. As it turns out, one of the main stores in the country that sells bookbinding supplies is close by and I had no idea. If you’re interested check out Hollander’s store or website. You can also find a lot of supplies on Amazon.

So now, aside from the never-ending hobby of getting extra junk out of my house, I’ve turned my basement bar into a bookbinding station. Don’t worry, there’s still room to mix up a drink or pour a beer.

I didn’t have to buy that many supplies. I bought some special needles, a roll of waxed linen thread, an awl to punch holes, a good paper cutter, and a cutting mat. We already had a sharp hobby knife and a metal ruler although I’m already replacing them with better ones. I bought a stack of thick 9”x12” paper on Amazon.

Here’s a couple pictures of the first thing I made.

It’s nothing fancy. It's small at 4 1/2 x 6 inches but it fits in the side pocket of my backpack nicely. I made the cover from an old folder I had laying around and attached a bookmark made of the same folder. Right now, I’m making a smaller journal but the cover will be thicker and hopefully I’ll do a better job sewing this time.

I enjoy bookbinding and it’s usually very relaxing for me. I like the precision of cutting the paper and yet, the freedom that you can make pretty much anything. The book can be large or small, thick or thin, open spine or covered, plain cover or wrapped in paper.

The biggest irony of this all is that I hated art class when I was a kid. I thought it was a big waste of time sitting there coloring, painting, cutting paper, or whatever. I was never interested in any sort of art. I liked Math and Science and that was pretty much it. I remember missing many recesses in the first grade just to finish coloring some stupid picture that I didn’t complete during class time.

I still hate to color, but I have gained an appreciation for many other forms of art. Maybe it started when I went to bartending school and saw the beauty in a perfectly poured drink like a bloody brain (OK, maybe not the best example) or one of the variations of a pousse-cafe. Now, I appreciate the artwork in good photography, quality writing, music, and in a well constructed book.

I’m not saying everyone should start binding their own books, but you should try to find some activity that’s relaxing and exercises your artistic side. There's always knitting, crocheting, painting, and lots of other "-ings" to try. Pick one and give it a shot. If it's not for you, try another one.

I think most of us could stand to slow down more often and stop trying to multi-task. Maybe you can start by getting out your kids’ crayons and colored pencils and go make something.

We’re all desperately trying to find more time in our day. We find it in different ways but usually something gets sacrificed in the process - whether its sleep, a healthy meal, time spent with family, time spent doing our jobs, or time for ourselves. Maybe all of the above? My family is far from perfect at managing our time and I never seem to get enough sleep, but we do have a few tricks that help us keep our sanity and still get to piano lessons more or less on time.

1. The slow-cooker is one of the greatest inventions ever.
   
   1. We have two crock-pots that we use for soups, stews, chili, pulled pork, roast, and whatever else we can make in them. They’re perfect for having dinner ready when you get home so everyone can eat quickly and get to whatever activity is going on. This takes a little planning and preparation to make sure you have the ingredients on hand. Occasionally, we’re up a little late to get it all ready but it beats fast food.
2. Timers are your friend.
   
   1. It seems like almost everything now has a computer built into it. The miracle of the Internet of Things even allows us to automate the dumbest of appliances. We use the timer on our dishwasher and washing machine regularly to help us get things done. This works especially well for simple loads like towels. Put them in the washer before you go to bed and set the time so they start about an hour before you get out of bed. When you get up, throw them in the dryer. Who cares how long they sit there as long as they get dry. You can even throw something else into the washer and set the timer before you head off to work so that they’ll finish around the time you get home.
3. Get as much ready the night before as possible.
   
   1. My evening routine involves preparing my coffee - which is on a wifi connected outlet scheduled to turn on every weekday morning - along with as much of our lunches that can be prepared. When I go to bed, our lunch bags are on the counter with napkins and silverware. Our lunches - usually leftovers - are in the fridge ready to grab and throw into our bag. We all have clothes laid out the night before and alarms set.
4. Teach your kids to help out.
   
   1. We have to keep reminding ourselves that we are raising future adults, hopefully not future slobs. We have slowly been getting our kids to help with things like emptying the dishwasher, dusting, and doing laundry. Our oldest has been gathering the garbage for quite a while although I still have to remind him. It’s become standard procedure for my oldest to empty the dishwasher when he gets home from school.
5. Stagger your schedule with your spouse if possible.
   
   1. This may not work for everyone but we’ve been fortunate to be able to stagger our work schedules. Unfortunately that means I get up between and 5:30 each day so that I can make my long commute to be at work by 7 or 7:30. My wife gets up a little before the kids and gets them off to school before heading to work around 8. Getting to work early allows me to get home around 4:30 or 5 so that I can get dinner ready and helps me get kids off to their activities.
6. Constantly communicate with each other.
   
   1. None of this would work at all if my wife and I didn’t constantly keep each other informed of what’s going on. Occasionally, we have to call or text each other during the day to confirm the plan for the evening. We also remind the kids in the morning especially if there is something out of their usual routine going on like a dentist appointment. Sometimes after the kids go to bed, we find ourselves just talking to find out what went on that day and discussing any events going on the next few days.
7. Have lists and calendars available for everyone to see.
   
   1. Finally, the main tool that enables us to keep track of what’s going on is an app on our phones called Cozi. Cozi is a calendar, to-do list, shopping list, and even recipe organizer all accessible on your phone or the computer where you can both see it. We use the calendar extensively and then have a weekly calendar on the wall of our kitchen that we update every Sunday for the week so that the kids can see what’s going on too. What I love about it is that it updates immediately. I have been grocery shopping while my wife is still adding things to the list from home. Cozi is free but they display advertisements. A paid option is available to remove the ads and give you a few extra features.
   
   

   In full disclosure I am an affiliate for Cozi so if you click on the banner below and sign up, I may make a small commission. But, I really do love Cozi and we have been using it constantly for a few years. I wouldn’t recommend it otherwise.

Like I said, we’re far from perfect but we almost never eat fast food and we manage to eat dinner together at the table most evenings while still having our kids involved in a couple activities each. I hope that something here will help you tame your schedule a little so that you can enjoy some family time together too.