"...Mountains are huge and sometimes you can’t see the top. Just like there not being an end in sight to your laundry."

Written by Brianna Hosack - Published February 2, 2025

Originally posted on The Minimalist Toddler Mama Blog on February 19, 2021, written by Brianna Hosack.

Laundry Training vs. Everest Training

Last week I was comparing conquering my laundry mountain (in the past) to training to climb Mount Everest. 

So how exactly do I figure that learning to maintain a laundry routine that works, is similar to learning to climb Mount Everest?

Well, first of all, mountains are huge and sometimes you can’t see the top. Just like there not being an end in sight to your laundry.

Photo by Eugene Ga on Unsplash

Anyway… let's revisit:

Everest Training Step 1: 

Climbing conditioning - pack-loading uphill hiking, walking, and stair climbing

Laundry Training Step 1: Trying every different option. It's like testing and strengthening different muscles. 

You have to work a little on every aspect for overall success.

Every person and every family and every schedule is different! There is no one-size-fits-all. 

I've read so many different methods that are supposed to be the best way to keep up on your laundry, but I don't believe there is one ‘best way’ that would be perfect for absolutely anybody.

Not even my way. 

I took bits and pieces from multiple sources. I took what I thought was the BEST from each. I worked all those different muscles. Mine doesn't look exactly like any of the ones I learned from. 

And yours probably won't either. You have to discover what works best for you.

Everest Training Step 2:
Strength training - for the lower body and core

Laundry Training Step 2: Once you find what works for you, you have to practise it. You have to make yourself do it again, and again, and again, and again... until it becomes a habit. 

It's just like lifting weights. You don't do it once and walk out of the gym 'ripped'. Only through repetition will you find success!

Only something that you build into your routines and tweak and force into becoming a habit will stick around. 

Everest Training Step 3:
Cardiovascular training - including both aerobic and anaerobic workouts with and without pack weight

Laundry Training Step 3: This is the endurance portion. You have to maintain that habit, and when you DO fall out of it (it happens to everyone), you have to make yourself do it again, and again, and again... until it is a habit again. 

I don't know about you, but I think I can safely assume if you are reading a post about trying to conquer your laundry... you are a lot like me. 

I personally find it a lot easier to fall OUT of habits than to build them for myself. It is a lot of work to make a new habit stick. Especially over and over. 

Here is the good news though: Just like your body adjusts and your stamina improves with cardio, so does your habit stamina.

Over time it is less and less often that you fall back into struggle. 

Here's the not so good news: This part feels a lot like that stitch in your chest you get when running for miles, with a pack for weight, to improve your cardiovascular fitness: Laundry never goes away. 

Yup, you read that right. There is no magic cure for laundry (trust me, I've tried to find it). It never goes away. 

You will have to do laundry for the rest of your life, or pay someone else to do it for you, or buy new clothes CONSTANTLY. 

I know you know this… but subconsciously it almost holds us back, doesn’t it?! Sometimes someone has to say it to you.

You can make a choice to have laundry be a struggle forever, or you can choose that you are going to change it, and do the work, whatever it takes, to find your solution and implement it.

It might (read: probably will) be hard work.

However! I promise you the work to build a routine for laundry is worth it.

When you DO maintain that habit and have the clean house to show for it… it feels sooo fulfilling!

That sense of accomplishment and feeling of completing something... it is SO worth it!

It is something you can REALLY be proud of. 

MOST moms I know struggle with maintaining laundry habits. There's just so MUCH of it! 

It is so common for me to hear a friend say they 'have to do laundry' as a reason why NOT to do something else. I have definitely said it myself, in the past.

Is your laundry mountain holding you back? 

Do you feel more connected to that odd sock that has lived in the bottom of the clean hamper for two years than to your friends? 

Then you NEED laundry habits! See my next blog post for a great start on your own habits, where I’ve cut out the research portion for you!

Everest Training Step 4:
Flexibility training

Laundry Training Step 4: This is when you get all caught up (*WIN*) and then everyone starts puking. 

This is when everyone but your husband gets sick, and your routine falls off the edge of the world. 

So your amazing partner goes to it. He washes, dries, folds... and even apologizes for 'not folding how you like it'. 

You become flexible in your laundry schedule, methods, etc.

He misses certain items, and shrinks others. But he knows that in your house it doesn't get left undone, so he does it. Without being asked! *WIN*

Or if he is gone too much and can't, you find the tiniest seed of willpower deep down and drag your sorry sick butt out of bed and do a load because you KNOW now. You know how much your sanity is worth. *WIN*

Or you suck it up and call your mom to ask for help (gasp!) because you know you need it. *WIN* (Yup, even this one.)

This is when you go camping for two weeks and come home with untold amounts of dirty clothing (usually more than you left with!?)… 

You gather it all and it immediately puts the fear in you because that mountain of laundry looks ohhhhh so familiar… 

The dread starts to build. You can feel the anxiety taking hold....

And you just start a load. 

And you remember that you've got this, and suddenly you can breathe deeply again. *WIN*

Life is GOING to happen. And you WILL get behind again. 

But you will be able to bend and stretch and endure and reach in ways you never thought possible before. 

You will have trained for exactly that moment, know your priorities, and be able to move along, even when it gets really hard. *HUGE WIN*

And when you can do that, you can 100% say that you have CONQUERED YOUR LAUNDRY EVEREST for good. 

It may not be something you can brag about like climbing the actual mountain (maybe to your mom, or your friends, or even to me if you don't have somewhere else to do it!)... 

…but if your mental health suffered because of your laundry (among other things, obviously), and you BEAT it? 

Oh, that is sweet success. That IS something to be proud of. 

For me, it meant that I had finally made it. I was GOOD at keeping my house! Maybe not the best. Maybe not perfect. But I was actually GOOD at it. 

And last, but definitely not least ...conquering it helped me to discover that my laundry habits had nothing to do with whether I was a good Mom or not. 

Being a good housekeeper is NOT the same thing as being a good Mom. 

It took me awhile to learn that, but in case you need to hear it (like I did back then): 

If every dish in your house is crusted on with food…

you have no clean underwear…

the floors are filthy, and your kids haven't had a bath in a week...

Photo by Josh Calabrese on Unsplash

But your kids are healthy, smiling, laughing, playing, and can run to you for a hug... 

you are WINNING already at being a mom.

P.S. ... while you build this habit, only focus on YOU building it.

You can't teach your family a routine you don't have yourself yet. I promise. In time, they will catch on. 

Or you can address teaching them, later.

Want my guidance on starting to build YOUR laundry routine? 

Coming soon, a post to dive into ways you can start figuring out YOUR ideals and what works for you.

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