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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: Sept 27 2012 at 3:52pm | IP Logged
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My boys' favorite thing to do is dig holes and play in the dirt. They are in and out often throughout the day. When they get muddy or wet, they want to change clothes. Any tricks for managing the laundry and containing the mess?
It drives me bonkers when they are complaining that they dodn't have play clothes just a day or two after doing their laundry., and while sometimes, I just throw my hands up in the air, many days I'm not even aware of just how many times they have changed.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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pumpkinmom
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Oh, I don't know if this will work, but have two sets of "outdoor get dirty clothes". When they go outside they change into a set. If they get too dirty/wet and and want to change they can come in and change into the other set. Have a hanging place for the first set to dry. The next day the sets should be dry and they can take them outside to shake off all the loose dirt and muck and then they are ready to wear again that day. Maybe they could use those two sets for a couple of days or a week. They still have their clean clothes for the day to change back into when they are inside. Maybe this would help reduce the laundry. 
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Cassie
Homeschooling my little patch of Ds-14 and Ds-10
Tending the Pumpkin Patch
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Betsy
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| Posted: Sept 27 2012 at 5:35pm | IP Logged
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CrunchyMom wrote:
| many days I'm not even aware of just how many times they have changed. |
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I know what you mean. I only seem to notice it when the yougest has abandoned his clothes and runs around in the buff! 
I have no solutions...except that my boys wear dirty clothes.....a lot!
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Sept 27 2012 at 8:28pm | IP Logged
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I read your title "Boys are Dirty" and thought "YES".. and then realized there was probably more to this.. 
How about console yourself that they want to wear clean clothes rather than be of the other half that get dirty and STILL want to wear the same thing day after day after day. 
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
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mom2mpr
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| Posted: Sept 28 2012 at 7:42am | IP Logged
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I miss those days
We also had a set of "dirty" clothes and tried to wear them anytime(must be anytime, now  ) he went outside. It worked better than a new outfit after our at least twice a day outings. When he was younger..
Now the boy is almost 15 and I mostly deal with stink--sweat---from running and basketball, or 4H animal activities. I prefer dirt
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Anne, married to dh 16 years!, ds,(97), Little One (02), and dd (02).
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: Sept 28 2012 at 7:54am | IP Logged
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It seems to come in waves. They will go days wearing the same shirt, and then all of a sudden, they are getting covered in clay mud several times over. It isn't as if they are finicky about wearing dirty clothes (my couch cushions will attest to this), but I think that when they get wet and muddy, its too much for even them, especially since they are absolutely too gross to even consider playing indoors in that condition.
CAssie, I think that hooks for the clothes in the outdoor shower might be an option so they can dry and be beaten and worn again instead of just thrown in the dirty clothes.
I'm feeling overwhelmed by all the different varieties of chaos that come from boys, and it just occurred to me that it is always a transition when the youngest hits 18 months and starts contributing his share, which adds to it exponentially. Last time I hit this place was two years ago when we decided to sell our teensy townhouse and buy a larger one with a big yard. That's not an option this time around , so I guess I'm just trying to address it all in other ways.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: Sept 28 2012 at 8:03am | IP Logged
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mom2mpr wrote:
I miss those days
We also had a set of "dirty" clothes and tried to wear them anytime(must be anytime, now ) he went outside. It worked better than a new outfit after our at least twice a day outings. When he was younger..
Now the boy is almost 15 and I mostly deal with stink--sweat---from running and basketball, or 4H animal activities. I prefer dirt |
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They do have designated play clothes separate from friend clothes. We don't really go out much at all during the day, but they almost always have clothes they can wear out of the house. They just keep going through the play clothes so quickly!
They aren't just making mud pies and such. Until recently, they were trying to build an underground facility and had used post hole diggers to make a hole for the chimney as tall as my 8 year old. I had to nip that one (they were pretty devastated that they weren't allowed to complete these plans) out of fear for the baby (the hole would easily fill with water in a heavy rain) as well as potential damage to underground plumbing should they have strayed into the septic field.
I also get tired of the dirt inside the house. We have a mud area set up by the back door for coats, boots, etc... It is harder in the summer when they will often go out barefoot. Plus, one strange phenomenon is that we have a big back yard, but unless they are working on their digging or going all the way back into the woods, they play in the tiny front yard. Its weird. And so, they use the front door a lot. I should be more disciplined in making them use the back door, but its pretty hard to regulate.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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Chris V
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| Posted: Sept 28 2012 at 8:13am | IP Logged
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My little girls adore playing in the mud, and here at the new house we have LOTS of it (er, landscaping isn't exactly in the budget right now...so the entire area around our house is dirt, weeds and mounds of left over fill material everywhere!). Here's the ironic part, we HAVE a mud room in the house that is just off the garage. That was its intended use, right? That's why we built it! .. But I won't even let the girls inside when they are muddy! My daughter says "isn't that what the 'mud room' is for?"
So, anyway, my current system is to make them strip down to their skivvies in the garage before coming in, then we hang the filthy clothes up in the garage to dry out. So far I have't had to pre-rinse them yet before washing, but when I do need to, we put an outside wash basin in the garage for just this purpose.  and if they want to go back out in the dirt later in the day, I make them put the dirty clothes back on.
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Chris
Happy Wife with my Happy Life
Mama to My Five Girls ('04~'07~'09~'11~'11) 
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mom2mpr
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| Posted: Sept 28 2012 at 4:35pm | IP Logged
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CrunchyMom wrote:
mom2mpr wrote:
I miss those days
We also had a set of "dirty" clothes and tried to wear them anytime(must be anytime, now ) he went outside. It worked better than a new outfit after our at least twice a day outings. When he was younger..
Now the boy is almost 15 and I mostly deal with stink--sweat---from running and basketball, or 4H animal activities. I prefer dirt |
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They do have designated play clothes separate from friend clothes. We don't really go out much at all during the day, but they almost always have clothes they can wear out of the house. They just keep going through the play clothes so quickly!
They aren't just making mud pies and such. Until recently, they were trying to build an underground facility and had used post hole diggers to make a hole for the chimney as tall as my 8 year old. I had to nip that one (they were pretty devastated that they weren't allowed to complete these plans) out of fear for the baby (the hole would easily fill with water in a heavy rain) as well as potential damage to underground plumbing should they have strayed into the septic field.
I also get tired of the dirt inside the house. We have a mud area set up by the back door for coats, boots, etc... It is harder in the summer when they will often go out barefoot. Plus, one strange phenomenon is that we have a big back yard, but unless they are working on their digging or going all the way back into the woods, they play in the tiny front yard. Its weird. And so, they use the front door a lot. I should be more disciplined in making them use the back door, but its pretty hard to regulate. |
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It sounds like fun!!! What a creative bunch and how wonderful they are working hard together. Love the underground facility idea!! But understand the safety issues Work on the back door entry and ENJOY!!!
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Anne, married to dh 16 years!, ds,(97), Little One (02), and dd (02).
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bfleur
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| Posted: Sept 28 2012 at 9:25pm | IP Logged
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I am loving this conversation! I am just reading and giggling I have 5 boys, 8, 7, 5, 3, 1 1/2, and they get filthy too! Our back yard is grass covered so that does help control the mud aspect most of the time, unless the garden house is discovered and the garden needs watering, and watering the garden makes mud puddles, and the mud puddles just HAVE to be jumped in
I really haven't figured out how to control the mess either. Although in our old house we did have a mud room and I did use it for just that, and it was pretty filthy from time to time,but it did keep mud out of the house, and we had white carpet! Around here my boys wear a lot of jeans, which can be hung up outside if filthy and worn again, and tye dye shirts (dyed to cover up old stains). I'm just not so sure the 'boy' mess is containable, LOL!
I also haven't figured out how not to get so many bruises with my boys. They love to crawl all over me when reading books, and jump and romp. It is rough and tumble aound here, with lots of dirt mixed in, but we have so much fun
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Angel
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| Posted: Sept 29 2012 at 8:35am | IP Logged
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CrunchyMom wrote:
They aren't just making mud pies and such. Until recently, they were trying to build an underground facility and had used post hole diggers to make a hole for the chimney as tall as my 8 year old. I had to nip that one (they were pretty devastated that they weren't allowed to complete these plans) out of fear for the baby (the hole would easily fill with water in a heavy rain) as well as potential damage to underground plumbing should they have strayed into the septic field.
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Yeah, we have a "bunker" in our backyard. The hole is three feet deep at least and we had to stop my 9 year old from trying to construct a tunnel out of the end of it, for fear of it collapsing on top of someone. Our budding engineer was not happy about that.
My 15 yo doesn't get muddy much anymore (although when we get the water out in the summer for some reason he is still the one encouraging his younger brothers to have a mud fight) so I'm "just" keeping up with 5 boys muddy, dirty, etc. laundry these days. If you find a way to control it, let me know, because I haven't yet. Here's what we do for muddy and wet stuff:
The boys have to strip at the back door just inside the kitchen. (Otherwise, they will not change their clothes and they will get mud all over the house and stay in their wet clothes until they dry.) Then they are to take their muddy, wet stuff and place it directly on top of the washing machine so I know it needs to be washed. (Otherwise, it will sit on the carpet in their bedroom under their beds until I start sniffing and saying, "What is that smell??") Then, since it's on top of the washing machine (or inside the washing machine, in the event that the washing machine is empty, although that almost never happens), it will be the next load of laundry that I do. If it's really muddy, I'll wash it alone (or with all the other mud-encrusted stuff from the day, if it's a really muddy day and if they're going outside several times), but often I'll try to find something that can go in with it... say, the clothes my husband wore to work in the garden... dirty jeans... the towels that boys used to wipe up the mud and water all over the bathroom floor from when they tried to wash all that stuff off their hands... that sort of thing.
As far as the dirt in the house goes... we're on 5 acres here with chickens, so it's impossible to keep the floor clean. We have designated sweeping times throughout the day, but in the long run, I guess I just ignore it. It's the price you pay for more room to play outside and a lot of boys to play in it, IMO.
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Angela
Mom to 9, 7 boys and 2 girls
Three Plus Two
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Boys get dirty
