I currently do a lot of laundry. I also currently think a lot about laundry. And it's been almost a year since my last post on laundry! Time for another!
I’ve recently been considering how I can have the kids be more involved in their laundry situation. I don’t feel it’s my forever responsibility to fold their clothes or put laundry away in their drawers, although I know the three-year-old isn’t really capable of folding, nor is the five-year-old.
Part of getting them to put their laundry away will be lowering my standards of how their laundry should be put away. I use a bunch of SKUBB baskets from IKEA to sort their clothes in their drawers. Isaac has enough T-shirts that they need to be folded to fit into the space, but pyjamas just get chucked into the bottom drawer. I know he can chuck his own pyjamas into a drawer.
Growing up, there was a clean laundry basket in my parents bedroom, and my parents would always ask us to put our laundry away. we generally resisted this because if we were looking for something, it was usually in the clean laundry basket. In hindsight, I think my parents didn’t want us to use their room as excess clothing storage.
I asked Andy how his parents did laundry. He said his mom washed, folded, and ironed his laundry, and then gave him a pile of laundry to put away.
FYI, I do not iron, and I’ve never ironed Andy‘s clothes and barely ever iron my own. I certainly wouldn’t iron my kids clothing.
I’m considering getting the kids, a clean clothing basket, but my fear is this will just become another basket and also they might mix clean and dirty clothing. Maybe a clean clothing drawer?? I could leave it In a pile outside the room however, it would probably stay there until I got annoyed.
If you have kids, do your kids put away their laundry? What age did they start putting away their own clothes?
Did your parents do your laundry when you were a kid?
No kids here, but I recently saw this video about how to get your kids to fold laundry and it was great! https://youtu.be/JMQHhfHFN5g?si=NXJ0Wjag2LHZyYJ0
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid, my Mom not only made me do my own laundry, but everyone else's! I remember really getting grossed out by my Dad's tighty whiteys! However, I do not recall having to fold other people's laundry and honestly do not know what happened to it once it was clean. I did have to pick out and fold my own laundry. I don't remember what age this started but it was definitely in full force by the time I was 9 or 10. Before that, I don't remember who did the laundry.
My least favorite part of laundry is folding; in fact, I have a clean basket sitting here staring me in the face right now! I only have one basket though, so I need to fold that one so I can put the dirty in there. My brother also hates folding and often will have several loads of clean scattered around his bedroom! I just sent my Mom and email to ask her what the situation was so I can report back!
At my first job in GAP we board folded everything. It did look tidy! But now I usually do a sort-of marie kondo fold for getting things in kids drawers so the board wouldn't really help. It's a bit OTT for me but I do love the idea.
DeleteOooh interesting you did everyones laundry!! and by 10! It does sort of make sense as a kid chore because not much can go wrong for standard laundry!
I don't fold anything untill it's ready to go in drawers. Everyone gets piles. And even in drawers not everything is folded. I also hang most of my clothes too... which saves on folding. I actually like folding laundry but if things are just as easy in a drawer sorting box (like underwear or kids pyjamas) then I don't fold.
I have my daughter do most of her putting away; I still wash the laundry for my kids - BUT, for her 13th birthday she is getting laundry pods. So, barring major complaints, she will be doing it start to finish very soon.
ReplyDeleteMy son is a mix; sometimes it's just easier to put his things away, sometimes I have him do it.
Growing up I feel like my mom did all my laundry all the time? Even in university I boarded with someone and she wanted to be the one doing laundry. She would like a pile of clean clothes on my bed. So I guess I was very spoiled. That said, I feel like I do plenty of laundry now to make up for it.
My dad did my laundry untill I went to college. But I definitely do more than enough now to make up for it! What is Laundry Pods? I will have to google this. It seems like early/mid teens would be a good time to transition laundry responsibility...
DeleteKids are 4 and 6 and I'm doing everything. Only SOMETIMES they will put their laundry away. Need to get on that..
ReplyDeleteIm thinking of making it a designated time thing to start? Like Sunday morning is laundry away time? And then I can do laundry in the week (and put it away) but at least get them started putting it away on Sundays? Will report back!
DeleteI feel like my mom did my laundry until I was in sixth or seventh grade and then she taught me how to sort, measure detergent, and then I was in charge of laundry for the whole family from then on.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember what age I was when it started, but my mom basically just put clean clothes on my bed (unfolded) and I was expected to put them away until I did my own laundry. I'll be interested in hearing at what age kids take some responsibility.
Thank you! Folded clothes on the bed is a good idea... maybe when they're a bit older. They currently would probably just sleep under a pile of clothes if I let them.
DeleteI'm a fan of having kids get involved in as many of the chores as possible. That's what my parents did with me. Is that what happens in my house? Not at all. When the boys were small and living 50% of the time in each house it was hard to get them involved in chores because they weren't consistently here, and they rightly played the "we don't have to do that at mom's house" card. Now that they're here most of the time we basically have a situation where my husband does most things for them and it's very frustrating to watch.
ReplyDeleteLol ironing. Does anyone iron anymore?
Yeah it's always way easier to imagine what kids will do before you actually have them! And I have been SO SUPRISED at how many people I know IRL who iron their kids clothes. I never iron but so many of the mums I know do. I know we have school uniform but when the trousers say "iron free" i take that an instruction!
DeleteMy sister and I had to take the family washing to the launderette down the road. We hated that chore! By the time we got a washing machine (in my late teens), my sister and I did our own laundry etc.
ReplyDeleteInteresting! I think I'll aim to have kids doing laundry in their teens. I don't think I did my own laundry till college.
DeleteAlthea loves to help sort out the towel-y load into the right categories and then help put away the folded piles that go to the kitchen (napkins, towels, etc). She also likes to put her underwear and socks away. I sometimes let her help a bit with her folded clothes but I am picky about them going into the drawer correctly.
ReplyDeleteThis is great! I think I could have gotten Lilah interested earlier, she sometimes helps but sometimes doesn't and usually I don't have enough time to do it with help... which takes longer than alone.
DeleteOh yes it's definitely not a time saver! But hopefully she's building skills and interest. Plus she makes a good team with my dad who can't seem to tell a diaper wipe from a dishcloth from a cloth napkin. Althea sets him straight. :-)
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