Do you do your teens laundry?

[Minnesota!]

DS6has the job of bringing the laundry from the closet to the top of the steps (in a basket). Dh and I take it from there to the basement. Then DH or I wash it....and one of the boys helps get it into/out of the dryer. And then we ALL fold it. DS4 folds the wash clothes, hand towels, dish towels, etc (anything that is small and square/rectangle). DS6 does sock, his clothes, undies, and some of the smaller towels.

They both put their own stuff away. Well, DS4 can't hang stuff up yet b/c he is too short, so I take care of that.

But we all pitch in every step of the way. I am hoping someday their future wives thank me like I thanked my MIL

 

[Minnesota!]

How do you manage colors? We do five loads in two days just because of that: lights, darks, reds, greens, and "other brights".

We don't divide laundry by owner, but by color, so we can't assign one person a day to wash his own. I've been coaching DS14 to do laundry, but he's colorblind, and I really can't trust him to sort properly. (For some reason, his father doesn't like the idea of wearing pink undershorts, LOL.)

Oh, and we only do 3 divisions - lights, darks, reds.

 

[jillyb]

My DD9 has been putting away her own clothes for years now. As soon as she could reach the bar to hang the clothes I told her it was time. It is one of her chores and it must be done before she goes to bed each night that I have laundry for her to put away. Of course, if she has things on the floor they go in the trash bag that gets delivered to Goodwill. Only took one time of my DH and I cleaning her room that way for her to remember to keep her stuff picked up!

I don't ask too much of her around the house, but she is responsible for keeping her room picked up. It doesn't have to be perfect, but the stuff has to be up off the floor. I think that is a reasonable expectation for elementary aged children.

Like!!!

Same with my DD8...she doesn't have to do much but I do expect her to keep her room picked up. I also have her vaccum and dust her room. Her other chore is emptying the trash cans every week. She HATES that chore! LOL

I haven't had to do the trash bag. Just the threat of me getting one gets her moving! LOL

I've recently shown her and her older sister how to do their own laundry so we're still working on that.

The problem I'm having with the 13 year old right now is that she will leave some of her clean clothes in her hamper and throw her dirty clothes on top of them.

 

[disneylove2007]

My sister and I have been doing our own laundry since grade school, we are now in college. You would be surprised how many people are in the laundry room trying to figure out how to use a washing machine.. It is scary..

 

[Andtototoo]

I usually do the laundry now.

But when dd was ages 8-14, she did ALL the laundry. It was "her" household job. She was responsible for washing, drying and folding. It is everyone's individual responsibility to put their clothes away. I do not really care if the clothes are piled on her chair, but there are no clothes on the floor in our house -- she tried that once and I warned her, the second time, the clothes went away to Goodwill. Never had a problem again.

When she was 14, we traded out the laundry for doing the floors and flat surface cleaning because I wanted her to know about as many different kinds of cleaning as possible before she left home and how often you have to do it, etc.

However, if I am away on business or sick, she will do the laundry.

 

[Art 1]

No.

 

[jp24]

I do all the laundry in my house. And I'm a dude. I'm a control freak like that.

 

[daisyduck123]

DD16 was doing her own laundry until she came down with a life-threatening illness. Now, when she's not hospitalized, she rarely gets off the couch. She's presently not going to school (hasn't been since October), doesn't go out ANYWHERE, hasn't been shopping in a mall in months, so she isn't wearing too many clothes anyway (just stays in pajamas).

But yes, I'm doing her laundry.

 

[PirateSnowmen]

I'm 19 and I've been doing 100% of my laundry since I was at least 10, maybe earlier. Sort, wash, fold, put away - I did it all. My mom showed me how to do it once and I was good to go. She did type up the instructions and tape them to the wall next to the dryer in case I forgot exactly how to do it.

My sister and I have been doing our own laundry since grade school, we are now in college. You would be surprised how many people are in the laundry room trying to figure out how to use a washing machine.. It is scary..

The first week is absolutely the worst - I walked to the laundry room to do laundry and the ENTIRE floor was covered in so much soap you couldn't even get near the washers and dryers. Another time I went down and one washer (front-loader) was halfway full with blue water, but no clothes. Floor was dry. I'm still trying to figure out how that happened

 

[princesshannahsmom]

My sister and I have been doing our own laundry since grade school, we are now in college. You would be surprised how many people are in the laundry room trying to figure out how to use a washing machine.. It is scary..

I went to college locally and lived at home, so I haven't witnessed this. I can't imagine a college student, male or female, not knowing how to do their laundry. I mean it isn't really THAT hard to operate a washer or dryer, I figure if you are smart enough to have made it to college, you should be smart enough to operate a washer and dryer!!! GUESS NOT!!!

 

[PatsGirl]

I stopped doing DS's laundry when he was about 11 or 12 years old and now that it is only myself and DD, it is her chore to take care of all the laundry, she even puts mine away for me She originally started some laundry chores around age 5 (sorting socks), then I added folding and putting away the kitchen and bath towels, etc. around age 7, and by 10 she was doing everything. Her only other chores are to vacuum the two sets of stairs, clean the litterbox as needed, and dust every other weekend. Laundry is a good chore for a busy teenager because she can spend as little as 20 minutes a day doing it and at her leisure, usually putting a load in and flipping it before bed, then the next day folding and putting it away...repeat as needed

 

[pixiewings71]

My kids do their own laundry....I do mine and DBF's, that's it. DD11 started doing her own when she was around 7, she asked if she could and I said "sure" and showed her how. It's never been an issue, she's not ruined anything and when she washed something new she knows to read the tags. DD14 started later than DD11 but she too does her own, they wash it, fold it and put it away.

 

[clh2]

DD "usually" does her own laundry. Today - I've got her third load in the washer, 2nd load is in the dryer, 1st load is foldedexpept for socks and undies).

She has been busy between work, a church commitment, sports, and AP exams. Not to mention prom tomorrow night.

SO - I'm cutting her a break for this week, probably next week too.

 

[LisaNJ25]

My 18yo if they make it to the basement. I dont fold or put away his clothes or my 11yo's.

 

[AustinTink]

Stay out of my laundry room, it's my quiet place. DS sorts and delivers his clothes to the door. I'm deadly serious, I don't want them in my laundry room.

 

[Planogirl]

I do all the laundry just because I want to. I just feel better doing it all myself.

Besides I just work part-time hours while DS has a lot going on. I did teach him how to do laundry but then I chased him out of the laundry room.

 

[shortbun]

My 15yo does his and mine. Life is good.

 

[castmember19]

I'm fortunate enough to be 19 and my mom still does a majority of the household's laundry. Granted, there are only three of us including her and she has been retired since I was in middle school... so she spends a lot of time at home as opposed to my father and me.

My mom has been threatening to make me do my own laundry for as long as I can remember, as if it is punishment or something. I can do laundry, it's not like it's hard, so I tell her, okay. But the next thing I know she's washing my clothes again. She must like it or be working on half loads or something... I'm guessing it's probably the latter.

I'm out of college for the summer and she now has a new part-time job, so she asked me to help out with the household cleaning and cooking. Yesterday alone I did six loads of laundry- separating, washing, drying, hanging up, putting them away. I now realize that my clothes probably take up about 90 percent of the household laundry. Oops.

 

[Cindy B]

My kids (now 13 and 16) have been doing thier own laundry, (wash dry, fold put away) since the youngest was in 2nd grade.

They have done it for so long. To me it is "your clothes, your responsibility".

 

[mhsjax]

Like another pp said, I am too picky, and I pay way too much for clothes to let my kids do laundry. they aren't careful enough about spots and pretreating.

Now, they will separate, hang, switch from washing machine to dryer, fold and put away. They will do towels, but no anything else.

When they pay for their clothes, they can take a chance on ruining them. Or actually next year when I return to school I will probably check for stains and them let them do it, but for now, no.