Back in April of 2009, the Queen was getting a little excited about the impending opening of the royal U-Pick Strawberry patch on the kingdom farm. Not only was it a new venture for the royal family, it was also going to mean more of the luscious fruit for the royal table! The Monday thru Saturday hours for the patch were set at 7 am. until 7 p.m. or until all the berries were gone each day. This meant the Queen would not be able to oversee her normal royal duties. She would need to simplify some of the tasks.
The royal laundry seemed to be the most ominous task that would get out of hand. The Queen invisioned the prince and princess clad in their pajamas (or less) greeting customers. This would not do!
So, the Queen found an empty, boring corner in the master bathroom and corralled all the royal laundry hampers. The mix of different hampers, while not the prettiest site, helped with the next step of the plan. The prince and princess (then ages 5 and 3) were taught to sort their laundry into appopriate load categories. It was just like matching and sorting their playthings ... jeans, whites, and other. When the Queen saw that a hamper was full, she would put them in to wash as she left the house each morning and into the dryer as time allowed. Folding was done at night after the prince and princess were in bed.This plan worked wonders until about half-way through the strawberry season. The washing machine motor died. Three repair technicians, two weeks, and several mud puddles later, the Queen was back in business.
We continue to use this system. The prince and princess continue to use the hampers (fairly regularly). As the prince said this week, "Mama, Daddy needs to learn how to sort laundry. He put colored undies in with the white socks." It's a process.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
March 17, 2010 at 3:25 PM
Can you train sisters to do this process too? Not as if I'd ever do her laundry, but she'll need to learn at some point.