Micah running under the sheet chasing Lucy
Micah still enjoying running under the sheet
When I tell American family and friend's that we use clotheslines in Australia most of the time, many gasp at the thought of hanging your clothes on a line, but I'd like to point out a few pluses. When I was a kid I grew up with a clothesline. And just as my kids now enjoy running around, chasing each other under the hanging sheets, I too enjoyed the same thing. Micah also loves to ride his tricycle down the hill at the side of the house at great speed to ride under a sheet. The kids also love it when I play parachute with them by pegging the very end of a sheet to the line at the end and letting the kids run through it as I wave it up and down. Great fun with many laughs!
Some other clothesline games I enjoyed are:
* Making a cubie or a fort with a sheet under the clothesline
* Watching the Kookaburra's perch on top of the clothesline
* Throwing chooks (chickens) over the clothesline. Now we did not have a rotary clotheline but one with 2 posts at each end in a T and 1 line hangs form each post
* Hanging a pinyata from the post
* Many Aussie kids grew up swinging on rotary clotheslines (They spin around) great fun till you get caught by Mum!
So clotheslines are not that bad really. It does not even take up that much of your time to hang up clothes. It also gives your kids the chance to run around. But I guess if you had a back problem or are really pregnant a clothes horse or the dryer may be better :-) But I have not had theses limitations ....yet.
My Mum gave me back my awesome extendable clothes horse. She is so sweet, I insisted she keep it but she already had one. She said I will need it and boy was she right. It is perfect when it rains.
So I'm back to the Aussie was of thinking which is to only use the dryer if you absolutely have to. This saves electricity of course and I really do not mind hanging clothes on the line. It is hard when it is really hot outside as I burn easy, so I slip slop slap (for American's that means to slip a shirt with decent length sleeves, slap on a hat and slop on some sunscreen). And if it is too hot for me, I am not a fan of the heat I either hang my clothes out really early in the morning or use the clothes horse. We have now been living here for 3 months and I have only used the dryer 3 times I think, and that was just for a few things.
Oh and an American laundry tip for the Aussie's: if your clothes are really crushed and a dried wrinkled up feeling and you want to quickly get the creases out dampen the shirt or light material clothing lightly, don't soak it and run it in the dryer for 10 mins or so. Then walah creases are mostly or all done. I thought this idea was brilliant in America. I mean who has the time to iron when you have young kids? Not to mention how dangerous it is if it falls on them when your toddler clings onto your leg.
My Laundry trolley and pegs basket. My dad got me a toy one when I was a kid as I loved to help Mum with hers. Thanks Mum, the basket and the trolley are my early Christmas present.
Lucy helping me with the laundry. Just like I used to help my Mum. She can barely reach to put clothes into our new washing machine.
Oh and by the way Aussie's just don't seem to mind hanging up their unmentionables (bra's, underwear etc.) on the clothesline. Jeremy balked at this idea, and found it quite amusing, but I guess the way us Aussie's see it is, everyone has undies right? so it's no big deal. But I have heard the rare story of clothing or even underwear being stolen from the line, but I have never had this problem :-)
Some other clothesline games I enjoyed are:
* Making a cubie or a fort with a sheet under the clothesline
* Watching the Kookaburra's perch on top of the clothesline
* Throwing chooks (chickens) over the clothesline. Now we did not have a rotary clotheline but one with 2 posts at each end in a T and 1 line hangs form each post
* Hanging a pinyata from the post
* Many Aussie kids grew up swinging on rotary clotheslines (They spin around) great fun till you get caught by Mum!
So clotheslines are not that bad really. It does not even take up that much of your time to hang up clothes. It also gives your kids the chance to run around. But I guess if you had a back problem or are really pregnant a clothes horse or the dryer may be better :-) But I have not had theses limitations ....yet.
So I'm back to the Aussie was of thinking which is to only use the dryer if you absolutely have to. This saves electricity of course and I really do not mind hanging clothes on the line. It is hard when it is really hot outside as I burn easy, so I slip slop slap (for American's that means to slip a shirt with decent length sleeves, slap on a hat and slop on some sunscreen). And if it is too hot for me, I am not a fan of the heat I either hang my clothes out really early in the morning or use the clothes horse. We have now been living here for 3 months and I have only used the dryer 3 times I think, and that was just for a few things.
Oh and an American laundry tip for the Aussie's: if your clothes are really crushed and a dried wrinkled up feeling and you want to quickly get the creases out dampen the shirt or light material clothing lightly, don't soak it and run it in the dryer for 10 mins or so. Then walah creases are mostly or all done. I thought this idea was brilliant in America. I mean who has the time to iron when you have young kids? Not to mention how dangerous it is if it falls on them when your toddler clings onto your leg.
Oh and by the way Aussie's just don't seem to mind hanging up their unmentionables (bra's, underwear etc.) on the clothesline. Jeremy balked at this idea, and found it quite amusing, but I guess the way us Aussie's see it is, everyone has undies right? so it's no big deal. But I have heard the rare story of clothing or even underwear being stolen from the line, but I have never had this problem :-)
You throw chickens over the clothesline? That's hilarious! It's like a game of CHUCK a CHOOK! :)
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this story. I'd almost forgotten about the joys of the clothesline as a kid. We didn't do the chook thing though. we used to tie the the cats to ours. Sounds a bit like cruelty to animals now :P but I swear "no animal was harmed"
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