Laundry Room Speech Therapy

Dirty laundry is the story of my life.  Laundry baskets don't stay empty very long around here.  Seems like I wash a load, turn around, and the basket is full again.  I spend a lot of time sorting, washing, transferring, folding, and putting away laundry.  I'm not complaining though.  Really, it's an easy job when compared to other household chores.  It's one I haven't delegated to anyone else.  Scrubbing the tub...Amber?  Are you busy?  Sweeping the garage...Sam?  Grab the broom.  I'll stick with the laundry.

It probably comes as no surprise then when I say I spend a lot of time in the laundry room.  I teach Pre-School skills, give spelling tests, and even conduct speech therapy while completing the task of laundry.

We haven't ventured down the path of organized speech therapy with Joseph yet.  I know it's the norm for children with Down syndrome, but I rarely subscribe to the norms.  I'm wishy washy about the usefulness of it.  I'd have to pack up younger siblings, drive a distance, take time away from our normal homeschool day, leave older siblings to fend for themselves.  Would the results payoff?  I don't know.  Ask me about this in September and I'll probably think differently.

However, I do strive to incorporate my own version of speech therapy into our daily schedule.  The best place for practice is in the laundry room, of course.

Here's what I do:

As I remove items from the dryer, I have Joseph label them (with words).  He'll say something like shirt, an easy word for him.  I'll add to that and have him repeat it.  I might say t-shirt or long-sleeve shirt or sweatshirt.  These are harder for him to say.  He's not fond of multi-syllable words.  Taking another item from the dryer, he'll label it pants.  I'll say blue jeans or work pants or athletic pants.  He has a hard time with the consonant+l blend and also the /th/ phoneme so I like to incorporate those as much as possible.

I know speech therapists have special training to help with these issues and all I'm armed with is the internet, unconditional love and a burning desire for him to succeed, but so far it's working for us....until I change my mind.  Like I said, I'm wishy washy on this subject.

Linking up with Works For Me Wednesday

3 Easy Steps to Put the White Back into Dairy Show Whites

We've just finished the animal showing portion of our local fair.  Emily shows dairy, which includes cows, heifers, and calves.  Amber showed our POA, Pearl, for the first time.  It's a lot of work for the kids and parents, but the lessons learned make it worth it.  Of course the trophies, ribbons, and fair premiums are appreciated as well.  

But speaking of lessons learned, I've learned a few tricks over the years about laundering dairy show whites.  Would someone please tell me why all white clothing is the uniform of choice for dairy showing?  Don't they know cow poop splatters in every direction when it hits the ground.  Anyway, I'm sure my opinion (they should wear greenish, brownish show clothes) isn't going to change the minds of the national dairy showing committee, if there even is one.  

First off this isn't the best example of dirty because they are Emily's showmanship pants.  They don't wear these very long and work extra hard to stay clean because part of the judging is based on the showman's appearance.  But you can see a few manure stains on the pant leg.  They sometimes have to lean on the animal so the backside of the show pants are usually quite dingy.

First step is to soak the pants in Clorox 2.  I fill the sink with hot water and pour in about 1/3 cup of Clorox 2.  I let the pants soak for at least 24 hours, swishing them around a couple of times.

After they've soaked, I search out any stains and apply a liberal amount of OxiClean Max Force Gel Stick.  I'm not normally brand loyal, but in this case, stick with the brand.

  

 I use a bristled scrub brush and vigorously brush in a back and forth motion over the stain.

I let the OxiClean work in for about 20 minutes and then transfer to the washing machine.  Add the recommended amount of (any brand) laundry soap and about 1/4 cup bleach.  I set my washer to the "whites" setting and launder.  It's amazing how they return to their original whiteness.

Now, this pair of show whites is not the ones pictured above.  These were much dirtier than those and look how clean they are.  The pockets are nice and clean.  The bottom hemline is ultra white.  Ready for next year.

And since show whites are kind of boring blog fare, here's a picture of Emily with Margret.

Linking up with Works For Me Wednesday and Raising Homemakers.

*this post contains affiliate links, if you click through and purchase anything, I make a small commission - THANK YOU

Tips For Streamlining Baking

I mentioned the other day that we've been enjoying some chilly weather and that seems to put me, and I know many others, in the mood to bake.  Mmmm.  There's something about cinnamon, brown sugar, molasses, ginger......all those great smells filling my home.  It makes everyone want to turn on the accent lighting and curl up under a blanket with a good book and a fresh baked treat.

But, oh the work of homemade goodies.  Sometimes it just seems like too much work to find just the right recipe, get out the ingredients and mix it all up and then wait for it to bake and then cool.  After years and years of baking I've found a few ways to streamline the process and I'd like to share those with you today.

Tips For Streamlining Baking

1.  Wear an apron.  The reason for this is in order to move quickly you cannot be worried about soiling your clothes.  The apron also provides a place to quickly wipe your hands if need be.

2.  Memorize a few recipes.  I find that when I'm in a hurry for a home baked treat, searching out the recipe wastes precious minutes.  Chocolate Chip cookies, Chocolate Chip Blondie bars, Ginger bars.  These are all recipes I can make from memory.  They are family favorites and I know I can never go wrong if these are in the oven.

3.  Double the recipe.  This almost seems counter intuitive, but by doubling the recipe you get twice as much output for the same time input.  It doesn't take long to scoop everything twice.  Most muffin recipes make 12.  Might as well double it and throw a batch in the freezer or in our case eat them all in one day.

4.  Learn to eyeball measurements.  This is a real time saver and creates less dishes as well.  I never measure salt or vanilla with a teaspoon.  For salt I pour it in my palm easily measuring 1, 1/2, or 1/4 teaspoon.  Vanilla is a quick splash for 1 teaspoon or 3 quick splashes for 1 tablespoon.  For other dry spices it's easy enough to eyeball the amounts using just the 1 teaspoon measuring spoon.  If you're worried about cross contamination of spices in the jars, just give the teaspoon a quick wipe on your apron (see tip #1).

5.  Learn to eyeball peanut butter and shortening measurements.  Similar to #4, but this is such a time saver that I wanted it to have it's own spot on the list.  Next time you use a measuring cup to measure out 1 cup of either PB or shortening pay attention to what it looks like on the spatula when you scoop it back out of the measuring cup or count how many spatula scoops it took to fill the cup in the first place.  Remember this number or what the dollop looks like and start adding PB and shortening using only a spoon or spatula.

6.  Keep a mental list of recipes for special circumstances.  Tip #2 was all about memorizing recipes, but what if your memorized chocolate chip cookie recipe calls for both brown sugar and white sugar and you're out of one or the other, then what?  I like to have a mental list of go to recipes for times like this.  Because at some point during every grocery shopping cycle I am out of white sugar or brown sugar, baking powder or baking soda, eggs.  It just happens, so be ready.

7.  Make notes on your recipes.  Did you use almond extract instead of vanilla and everybody loved it?  Write that on the recipe.  Does the recipe call for a baking time of 25 minutes, but yours was done at 20 minutes?  Write that on the recipe.  Notes on my recipes have really helped me streamline my baking and makes it easier for another family member to replicate the recipe.

**BONUS TIP**

8.  Every family member (of age) should have a recipe they can make.  Sometimes streamlining means delegating the duty of baking to someone else.  Kids as young as 8 can make rice krispie treats using the microwave.  Even husbands can be included in this.  Warren's had his chocolate chip cookie recipe memorized since he was a kid and fills the cookie jar with them about 1/month.

If turning your kitchen over to your kids (or husband) sounds scary, I just started a series Kids in the Kitchen and you might find a little inspiration and a few tips in those posts.

HAPPY BAKING!

**linking up with Raising Homemakers and Giving Up On Perfect - works for me wednesday

Works For Me Wednesday - Laundry Folding Tip

Sadly, the summer is winding down.  Summer dance has ended.  The family campout is over.  The pencils and notebooks have been bought.  It's inevitable; school will begin.  And for those of you moms who happen to homeschool your life will once again revolve around reading lessons and multiplication tables and biology labs and and and ........

Things seem so peachy the first week back to school.  New books, new supplies, new planners.  Then the 2nd week starts up and I know what happens in my house.  I look around and holy cow it's a mess.  And the laundry.  Oh the laundry.  Once I heard a story about a mom who bought new socks and underwear for her family because she was totally overwhelmed with the mountain of laundry in her basement.

One google search for laundry tips and your head will be spinning with all the ideas.  I watched an online video series on laundry/meal planning/dishes.  She recommended doing only one load a day from start to finish.  Wash in the morning, switch to dryer at lunch, fold in the afternoon and put away after supper.  This might work for smaller families, but for my large family one load a day just won't cut it.  Seems there's always an extra load of beach towels or bedding or throw rugs.

From collecting dirty laundry to washing to putting away, I'm going to share the ONE trick that has helped me keep on top of the laundry.  I'm not saying you need to adopt my way, but if laundry is causing you a bit of a quandary I encourage you to think through the steps, search out laundry hacks, make a plan and follow it for 2 weeks.  Then make changes as necessary.  We modern homemakers really have it easy in the laundry department.  Yes, we have more clothes and fabric items in our home than in the olden days, but we also have machines to do the work of laundering - no feeding clothes individually into the wringer washer.  When we put clothes into the washer we get to walk away and do other things like reading lessons or spelling tests.

The Laundry Trick - FOLD THE CLOTHES STRAIGHT FROM THE DRYER

When I hear the chime signaling the end of the drying cycle I DO NOT grab a laundry basket.  I open the dryer and fold the clothes placing them in piles on top of my front loaders.  I have 9 piles, one for each person in the family and each person has their spot.  I arrange them from oldest to youngest:  myself, husband, Emily, Nick in the back and the other 5 kids in the front.  That leaves me space on the far right for sorting socks, folding bibs, friends' forgotten items, etc.  I fold all day as needed and then put laundry away at the end of the day, typically while the kids clean up supper dishes or just after putting the little ones down to bed.

Towels and washcloths are all washed together with bleach, placed in a basket and folded at the dining table.  I usually grab the closest, able child for that job.

Folding right from the dryer has allowed me to stay on top of laundry (for the most part) even with a large family, even while homeschooling.  When I used to put the clean clothes in laundry baskets it was so easy to transfer more laundry to the dryer.  Pretty soon I had 4 baskets of clean clothes to fold and it felt overwhelming.  One load folds up in about 10-12 minutes.  4 loads? Takes Forever!

Folding Clothes Straight From the Dryer Works For Me

Works For Me Wednesday is a linky party hosted by Giving Up On Perfect.