Ahh laundry…the most mundane task that never ever ever ends
Here are a few things that we do that may help:
1.  I try try try NOT to wash more than I can fold - although some people wash tons and fold all at night - whatever works for you!
2.  We each have a towel that we use all week long (we probably have enough for 2 for everyone - but I prefer to thrown them all in one day and hang them right back up rather than unfolding one batch and folding another).
3.  When things get really harried (flu, lice, etc.) I break my first rule and I wash what I can when I can and throw everyone’s stuff into separate baskets as it comes out.  Even if we never get that folded - and we live out of basket for a week - we know where to find little Elizabeth’s underware, etc. 
4.  Regarding the underware, it all depends on the kid and how often I can wash.  If I were consistently running out for someone I do buy more for them.
5.  My babies have slept in sweats too - life happens   Just don’t tell them when they get older
6.  We have 8 kids (lots of laundry - but with 6 of them being over 5 - lots of help).  But, our system for when someone NEEDS something washed is this.  Put it on the floor in front of the washer (yeah kinda gross - I guess a basket would be better) and whoever throws in the next load just starts with that.  If the blue soccer uniform is there - then someone washes then the next person throws it in and adds more colors.  If it’s underware, again, throw them in and add more whites.  This really helps when you are low on pj’s, etc.
Basically, probably similar to what you are doing now.  You are not alone   And…one thing to remember, even if this has been going on for weeks.  It will get back to normal, but it will take some time.  And laundry will never be done. 
AND….if it works for you (doesn’t for me) a good friend of mine will pick a day her dh is available to watch the kids, grab everything to wash, a good book, and go to a laundromat and wash many many loads all at once.

Unless you quit doing the laundry completely…which you aren’t!

Sometimes when I am so behind on laundry, I will get a couple of rolls of quarters, throw all dirty clothes into garbage bags pack soap and a clean basket for kids, adults, kitchen and bath towels and take 3 full hours at the laundry mat.  That gets me back to even, then I still do 2 loads a day—one light and one dark!  Hope that helps-

I know it is really hard to never feel caught up…sometimes I joke around that we are so far behind on laundry that everyone has to run around *naked* until I catch up!
Hang in there…you are not alone!

I went into survival mode after #5 was born, and haven’t gone back .  So I have a hamper for dark clothes, and a hamper for light clothes.  I don’t sort any more than that, and it makes it easy to grab a load to throw in.  I throw a load in the washer in the morning, again at lunch time, and again in mid-afternoon.  I make sure all three loads are folded before I go to bed.  Everyone puts away their own clothes.  I try to make sure this happens before bed, as well, but some days I wake up to a couch full of folded laundry.

If I am feeling behind, I put another load in after supper, but that doesn’t happen every day.

Thank you for making me feel better   My husband works very long hours and my children are all under the age of four, so I am bearing the brunt of the great laundry catch up.  I hadn’t thought about the laundromat, but I will totally consider that in the future!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, I replied below but thought it was going to go here!

If you ever get a chance to read Smart Martha’s Catholic Guide for Busy Moms, it is wonderful on this topic.  I am using her system for 6 months now and would never go back!  She has 9 kids, so I figure if she can tame the beast, then so can I!

Basically, it is having one basket (I use the drawer kind from IKEA) per person in the house.  Fold everything straight out of the washer and put it in the appropriate basket.  When a basket gets full, call it’s owner (unless they are too small) and get it put away.  Have enough hampers to sort your items near the washer if possible, and wash as soon as a hamper is full enough to fill the washer.  Older kids can do their own, or help with the system. 

In general, keep all towels the same color (white is great because you can bleach as needed) so they all go in the same load. 

I used to fold for hours and now since I do it only when the dryer is buzzing (one to two times a day) I feel like I have so much time back!  They system is wonderful!

If sweats aren’t pajamas, my whole family (including the newborn) are in trouble! 

As to laundry, I cut corners wherever I can to keep thing as “normal” appearing as possible (my goal in all household chores is “clean but not pristine” and “organized, barely”).  For me, this means
a) I sort into two piles: things that need stain remover on them and those that don’t.  Piles are washed as such, regardless of color.
b) I wash towels and sheets whenever they look dirty without my glasses on.  This takes awhile, but don’t tell anyone (if they can’t tell all by themselves, I figure it can’t hurt them!)
c) My husband is the only one who gets his laundry *both* folded and organized.  The kids and I have all our stuff in the right place, but I am less particular about how or if it is folded (will have to change this when the kids are old enough to fold, but we are not there yet!)
d) Wrinkle release is my lifesaver.  I only iron if my husband thinks it needs to be ironed.  That is rare!

This sounds “low” to many, I’m sure!  (It sure makes my mom sick when she sees me dumping colors and whites together!)  But the alternative seems to be letting laundry run me down and that is so much less acceptable to me!  My “low standards” allow us to have clean clothes that look “presentable” and are [almost] always available (except, uh, when I forget to take stuff out of the dryer for, um, a couple days!)  For me, its all about having stuff clean, storing it out of sight, and keeping it readily available—what it looks like in storage (ie, folded “just so” or not), whether every wrinkle is out, or details like bleach… those are not even on my radar!

I love everyone’s suggestions, but just as an FYI on re-using towels- my eczema prone child had an awful run with molluscum, and her re-using towels was likely causing them to spread so I had to adopt a use towels once then hot water wash policy. I love the hand towel suggestion!

Something new that I am trying is this:  I have a hamper in my sons room, one in my daughters room, and one in our room (there are 6 in our family).  I take my sons hamper down and throw the whole thing in the wash.  NO sorting.  I do the same with the girls (sometimes it’s 3 loads).  I only sort mine and my husbands and I add the towels to all the other loads.  I wash the kitchen and bathroom rags together with bleach.  So far, so good.  But, I don’t think I’m ever done laundry.  In fact, I have some folding to do right now.  I better do it quick because it’s movie night with my husband.    We are going to watch either Fireproof or The Story of Us.  Love date night.

I don’t sort either. I just take the hamper down. Much faster. Probably dingier, but honestly, who cares? Very lucky that the school uniform is an easy-to-clean navy pants/light blue shirt. If I home schooled, I’d care even less!

Someone once told me you crave what you shouldn’t have….maybe that’s true?

I’m running out the door and guessing others will provide some websites and books (searching on dairy free will give you a lot of information as well).  The following link is to my blog…I have an email I have sent to a few friends who began having diary issues themselves…it’s pretty long with lots of ideas for what to watch for and what brands to swtich to.  I don’t want to take up too much space here so if you are interested here is the link to that post.  http://cautionmomsatplay.blogspot.com/2011/11/dairy-free-foods.html

if you’re looking to cook milk or casein free the website http://www.food.com is great.  they have specialty sections for ‘free’ types of food.  i go there a lot for gluten free foods and love that they’re rated so i can skip the iffy recipes. 
  as for websites i usually go to Mayo Clinic or there’s probably a national casein free organization out there. 
  after a bit of time life will become a lot easier once you know what you can and can’t eat.  good luck and God bless

Just FYI, lactose intolerant is a different creature than milk allergic.
We deal with multiple food allergies here at our house, and if it is applicable to you, I’d be happy to share some of my dairy substitutions.
Here are some great sites, to get you through the weekend glued to your computer!

http://www.LivingWithout.com
http://www.AllergicLiving.com
http://www.GoDairyFree.org
http://www.KidsWithFoodAllergies.com (lots of good “starter” resources, even for an adult)
http://www.FoodAllergy.com

Good luck, Donna.  Hang in there; it’s a steep learning curve, the whole “un-learning a lifetime of cooking skills overnight” thing.

Count your Blessings dear!  Add wheat, corn, shellfish, and a whole long list of fruits and veggies, to that milk allergy and you can live in my world LOL.  Seriously though, Almond Milk is great!  I can also tolerate Goat’s milk and goat or sheep’s milk cheese.

If you are lactose intolerant (not sure if you just figured it out yourself and could be using terms loosely or if that’s official-I know the symptoms are similar) both WalMart and Target and have lactose free milk, and Breyer’s makes awesome lactose free ice cream,  if you’re actually allergic to milk, almond milk and coconut milk are both yummy for baking, although I don’t enjoy any of the milk subs for drinking straight out of a glass. Try checking some vegan cookbooks from the library and you’ll get tons of ideas. Good luck!

Sweats definitely count as jammies!  (For both my son and me!)

Hi Donna,  Not sure exactly what your situation is (allergy, lactose intolerance, etc.?) but I just wanted to mention that a lot of people who have trouble with regular pasteurized milk do great on raw (unpasteurized) milk.  We have been drinking it for years and I have really noticed a difference not only with digestive issues but also with better health in general. Pasteurization kills the beneficial digestive enzymes in addition to the possible harmful bacteria, which is why it’s often harder to digest.  There’s lots of controversy about the risks of drinking milk that hasn’t been pasteurized but for me, the benefits outweigh the risks.  We also use coconut milk or coconut water.

Hi Ladies,

Wow, thanks for the support, and ideas! Disclaimer:  I’m no medical professional at all, and I’m not sure I am even smart enough to be dangerous about this subject.  So, with that said~~~we just ran out of grocery money for the week, so I didn’t get our usual order of raw milk from the dairy.  (Love the taste of raw whole milk) No biggie, I thought, I’ll just drink water and let the kids have the milk….well, after 6 days, so far, I have lost a few pounds, no phlegm in my throat, and my stomach doesn’t hurt anymore after meals like granola and milk—and an occasional cup of coffee with spoon cream and milk in it….I was afraid I had ulcers because my stomach felt so sour and yucky….weird!

So, I Googled a few of these “facts” and wondered if I may be allergic to milk…then thought I would ask all of you intelligent, savvy people for your take on it!  So, how does someone make certain about this, and any other allergies?  Scratch test?  Blood tests?  I haven’t had to do this kind of stuff before, and I realize how blessed I am!
So, thank you once again, and looking at all of these websites blogs, I have my work cut out for me!

God bless you all

Donna, (and anyone else who’s interested)-
A food *allergy* is the body’s abnormal *immune response* to a part of the food.
A food *intolerance* is typically the body’s *digestive response* to the food.

Based on what you’ve shared, (phlegm, cramps, sour stomache) you are describing digestive symptoms.  You don’t *necessarily* need a doctor to validate what works:  just go dairy-free, doing what works for your body. 

Even in the case of true food allergies,  “reaction trumps all test results,” i.e., testing alone can’t determine if a person has a food allergy since both blood and skin have about 50% false positive rates. They also have about 90% accuracy for negatives but 10% false negatives. 

Anectdotally, you are not the first adult woman I have heard of who suddenly finds relief from all kinds of embarrassing & uncomfortable symptoms by going dairy free.  One friends mom confided to me that she just assumed everyone was as flatulent, 24/7, as she was.  She cut out cow’s milk in her late 40’s & has found instant relief.

Hi Donna, my son has a dairy allergy.  He drinks rice milk, which also works well as a milk substitute for things like frosting.  Earth Butter sticks are also non-dairy and work well for baking.  For things like mashed potatoes, Smart Balance spread (in a tub) works pretty well.

I heard people tend to lose their ability to digest lactose as they enter middle-age.  So even if one has never been lactose intolerant before it’s possible to become so.  I grew up with a dairy allergy and my kids have dairy allergies.  I have since grown out of it but I do think I am now becoming lactose-intolerant.

My husband is lactose intollerant.  He uses little lactose digestive pills (from the grocery store) before his cereal with milk, & that has taken care of 90% of his troubles (the other 10% may be brought on by stress—it doesn’t seem to be dairy-related).  I just want to say that—for any of you feeling it in your pocketbook to do special dairy substitutes, what’s worked for us is this: husband has one glass of milk (usually with his cereal) & uses a lactose digestive pill with it; then water to drink at all meals.  For things like mashed potatoes, I use… water!  Not quite as creamy, but add the gravy & no one can tell milk and butter are missing!  I’ve also ditched butter on veggies & use cinnamon on my carrots, white pepper on peas, and garlic on green beans.  Again, no one misses the milk-based products!  We’ve even traded our Sunday tradition of afternoon milkshakes for smoothies made with pure fruit and water.  I am NOT a “crunchy” person—healthy does NOT trump taste for me… which I say to assure these things actually taste good, not just “good because they’re good for you”!  Best of luck…

Ladies…when my daughter was lactose intolerant I used Chicken stock in my mashed potatos!!  Good stuff.  and the fleischmans magerine is made of soy so there is no milk. 
(She has mostly outgrown it!!)

LOL, this is another challenge in my house.  Same story:  two story house, one year old who scatters shoes everywhere and tries to eat them, as well as a three year old who likes to have Easter egg hunts with shoes and play shoe store.  I wish we had a closet on our first floor-  if I had one, I’d put the shoes there! 

Two things that have NOT worked:  a big basket where we toss all of them (the baby dumps it out).  A mudroom up from the basement because no one, including me comes in through the basement

We have a closet right in our entry way and everyone is allowed to keep their most frequently worn shoes there.  So, everybody has their tennis shoes there.  We have one of those closet organizers that has a couple of rows of shelves, so with that and the floor surrounding we can fit about 12 - 14 pair.  Dress shoes go upstairs with you.  When it seems too full, I take a load or so upstairs and redistribute.  Really muddy shoes and boots stay on a shelf unit in our sunroom.  We don’t usually go in that way, but when they are taken off, one has to take them out there and put them there.  We also have a boot tray in our garage, because new this year, the boys football cleats were just so dirty and so were they that I made them put them on the boot tray in the garage before coming in to the house.  Now if I could just get everyone to close the closet door in the entry way ........

We do have a mudroom of sorts but it is attached to the garage and no one comes in through the garage so what we do is the kids will take their shoes off in the front hall and then I grab the nearest kid and they take all of the shoes to the mudroom where they each have their own milk crate for their shoes.  I am rethinking this somewhat as my oldest two now I have dress shoes that I really hate to see thrown in with the sneakers and cleats.  Shoe racks didn’t work because there wasn’t enough room on them.  I may need to build something, either better racks of smaller, but more shoe boxes.

We also have a basket at the front door and back door. I went with small laundry baskets so they only hold our regular every day shoes. Dress shoes and specialty shoes go upstairs in closets, cleats and working outside shoes on a shelf in the garage. Of course all shoes end up in the baskets but since the baskets are small they get cleaned out every couple of days and shoes are put in the right place.

We use baskets for each kid.  They have their own basket by the front door ( we usually use the side door) and when they come in they just throw them in thier basket.  It has worked very well with us.  Funny thing is me and my husband just leave our shoes wherever lol

I have a similar problem. Spoiled for years by dishwashers, I have spent the last five and a half years living in apartments without such equipment and more than half that time in kitchens that don’t have hot water. I spend a lot of time that boiling water to wash. One thing we have done this winter (when it is hard to wash dishes in such cold water) is switch some meals to paper plates or sandwiches on paper towels. Also, do what you can to limit the amount of dishes used in a meal. If we are having soup and something else, we use the soup bowl to eat the next course. Only one bowl per person.