This post is sponsored by Tide, however, the opinions, stories, and dirty little kids shared in this post are 100% ours.

---

We're all creatures of habit, whether we like to admit it or not. I, specifically, take great comfort in keeping the little things the same. When you have kids, it seems (at least to me) that the less variation you have in a routine, the better. So when it comes to household products like dish soap, glass cleaner, and laundry detergent, I haven't changed my habits in... well... I've never changed my habits. I use all the same products my mother used when I was a kid, because if it ain't broke...?

This is especially true when it comes to laundry. Since I started washing my own clothes as a teenager, I've adhered to my mother's tried and true formula of detergent with liquid softener, and then dryer sheets (always the same brands, always the same scent) in order to achieve that Mom Level of freshness and spotlessness for my clothes.

Our Saturdays and most evenings are like any other typical family's in our area: jam-packed with sports and activities. Why do most people choose to not make plans on Saturday mornings? Because, duh, everyone's kid playing soccer. Or football. Or baseball. Or any number of other sports that the moms of Memphis love watching!

As my son gets older and has become more active in sports, that perfect level of freshness and that pristine clean I need in my clothes have become more and more difficult to achieve. Instead of changing my usual routine to deal with that stinky little kid smell that seemed to be transferring on to all of my family's clothes in the washing machine, I just began adding products to the lineup. More is better, right? Whatever it takes. Just don't touch my usual products.

The Mistake

I personally despise laundry, by the way. With a deep burning passion. You know how other moms often complain on social media about having a mountain of laundry? Well, my house is home to an entire mountain range. I'm notorious for allowing our laundry situation to get out of hand before I tackle it, and then I make a very dramatic situation out of the sorting and the washing and the drying and the folding of the laundry, because oh my gosh laundry is the worst. I use a ton of excuses to let our laundry situation get out of control, including running out of detergent. Genius, I know.

One fateful day, our mountain range had reached epic proportions. Even my husband was sick of what was happening (or not happening) at our house, so he took it upon himself to start the laundry. First he had to go buy some detergent, because of course we were out.

This is where I'd like to pause and remind everyone that for over 30 years, I have used the exact same detergent/softener combination on every article of clothing I've ever washed. I assumed (*sigh*) that my husband had noticed this routine. As it turns out, as with most other things, he did not. 

My husband returned from Target, triumphant in his laundry detergent-buying abilities. And I looked on in horror as he walked through our door carrying not only the wrong brand of detergent, but pods. He purchased Tide PODS, y'all.

How on earth would a little globule of detergent get an overstuffed load of laundry clean? This was going to make our clothes smell bad. How many loads can that container of Tide PODS even wash? This is terrible. We've been robbed.

"These are fine," he naively said.

Everything. Was not. Fine.

The Solution

How did I react? I wish I could say I reacted like an adult in this situation, but that would be a lie. I was upset. I was upset because my husband clearly paid no attention to what I had been doing and how I had been doing it for years. I was upset because I don't like change. And I was upset because, truth be told, this didn't seem like a good enough excuse to continue my laundry strike. It did, however, seem like the perfect opportunity to prove to my husband that just because something was on sale, that doesn't mean it's just as good.

I love a good reason to be right.

The Discovery

In order to really prove my point, I made sure to use the Tide PODS alone. There was no laundry booster included; no liquid fabric softener was added. I wasn't about to help these tiny globs of detergent get our clothes fresh. I truly wanted (and expected) our laundry to all come out smelling like sweaty little kid.

I threw in our first load, which included our worst laundry: my son's nasty cargo shorts he'd been playing in the day before, his Taekwondo uniform, my husband's gym clothes, and my kickboxing clothes from the week. I sat back, and grinned.

By the time that first load of laundry had been washed and the dryer beeped to let me know it was all finished, I knew I had won. Nothing in the form of a "pod" could possibly handle the nastiness of my family's laundry. I pulled the over-full load out of the dryer and plopped it all into a basket. I didn't get that immediate whiff of stinky boy, but I knew it was there.

I sniffed the first pair of my 5-year-old's cargo shorts that I could grab when I started folding. Most moms will tell you that the smell of a little boy's shorts are a dead giveaway as to whether or not laundry is truly clean.

They smelled... good. Really good.

I pulled out another pair, and it was the same story.

Thinking I was clever, I pulled out my son's all white Taekwondo uniform. Not only did this thing chronically wreak of dirty little kid, but it had a pretty defeating shade of nasty grey along the bottom of the pants. I inspected the uniform, and smelled it, and I couldn't believe it! Freshness. Everywhere. And that disgusting grey ring around the bottoms of the pant legs? Gone. Completely gone. All of our disgusting workout clothes seemed to have met the same fate of freshness.

After plowing through several loads of laundry in hopes of proving my husband wrong somehow, two things became quite apparent:

1. My family owns way too many clothes, and
2. These Tide PODS were it. They were my new go-to for our family's laundry.

Defeat

As much as I hate to admit defeat, there's no denying I'm a Tide convert. Not just Tide, though. Tide PODS have proven time and time again that my family is no match for their power. Even with how tiny they are, and how over-full I stuff our washing machine, they have managed to get the job done every single time. For an extra large or extra awful load of laundry, I'll throw in two PODS just to make sure everything comes out like new. I get a little crazy sometimes and still try to test their power, and the Tide PODS win every single time. Plus, I really can't argue with the amount of money we're saving, because not only are the Tide PODS inexpensive and easy, but now I don't have to buy an assortment of other products to help mask the smell of our son's laundry. I've also significantly decreased the use of spot cleaner. All of our whites come out looking brand new--even clothes I thought for sure had completely lost their luster for good.

So what have I learned? I've learned that tried-and-true isn't always the way to go. There are new products out there that are actually (gasp!) better than what our mothers and grandmothers used. I've learned that something as seemingly insignificant as tiny magical pods can change the way I look at laundry, because instead a multiple-step process, I can now just toss in a Tide POD. Done. You may be wondering if I've learned to trust my husband's instincts more. Well, yes. But I'm obviously not going to tell him that!

Learn more about Tide PODS and how much we love them here: