Do your kids do their own laundry?

[LisaR]

I have read this many times on some threads recently and I am not sure I understand it. When people say their kids do their own laundry, do they mean they wash their clothes separate from everyone else? If so, why?

My kids know how to do laundry. I frequently call out to one or the other to wash the towels, whites or regular clothes. They know how to use the washer and dryer with their eyes closed. They are also responsible for putting away their own clothes. We all take turns sorting. I can't imagine them doing their own laundry though. Isn't that a huge waste of water? I get wanting them to know how to do laundry but I am way too cheap to have them do it separately.

 

[mommasita]

No, they do help though. I was out of commission for a long time after surgery, and they do almost all of it .

I am now home on sick leave, so I do it all. I wash/dry and fold, carry it to their rooms, and they put it away. They are 14 and 11.

I made sure a few years back, they BOTH know how to wash/dry. I don't want my son who is 14 having any excuses later on

 

[design_mom]

I made my DS (almost 10) do his own laundry for a while after I kept finding clean, folded laundry in his hamper. It needed to be rewashed from being in there with actual dirty clothes. Apparently he found it easier to throw stuff back in the hamper than put it away. A few weeks of washing his own seemed to cure him of that habit.

Usually, I usually do the laundry for the whole family, but i often wash the kids' separately (from ours and from each other.) I got so sick of trying to figure out whose socks were whose. It's easier to do them separately! And, I can say "All of that is yours. Please put it away."

They have enough clothes that I can usually wait till they have a full load of whites/darks by themselves, then wash it all. If I need to wash one thing and don't have a whole load then, of course, I would combine... but usually I can fill a load with their stuff.

 

[tinatark]

LOL...timely question.... I do my kids' (15 and 16 year old ds's) laundry, fold it, or leave it hanging in the laundry room for them to put it away - on Saturday, after my younger son kept reminding me I didn't really *DO* (ie - scrub, rinse, spin) the laundry, he is now responsible for his own!

 

[lovetoscrap]

My kids do. They have a laundry bag in their rooms and also a hamper in their bathroom. When they get full it is several loads of laundry at least. So they are able to do their own without wasting water. If one ends up with a load that isn't full then they will just grab stuff from her sister's pile.

They actually collaborate more these days than they used to so they end up doing both of their laundry together. They take turns sorting it into the washer, putting it into the dryer, getting it out and sorting it. But they each hang/fold/put away their own.

One of younger DD's chores is to empty the dryer when asked regardless of whos stuff is in there, and they both are expected help fold and put away towels (since they use most of them!). If I am busy and need help with my (and DH's) laundry then I will usually pay one of them to hang/fold and put it away since this as big extra chore. I never let them sort our laundry because I am really picky!

 

[scrapquitler]

No, they do help though. I was out of commission for a long time after surgery, and they do almost all of it .

I am now home on sick leave, so I do it all. I wash/dry and fold, carry it to their rooms, and they put it away. They are 14 and 11.

I made sure a few years back, they BOTH know how to wash/dry. I don't want my son who is 14 having any excuses later on

My almost 14 year old daughter has been doing her own laundry (yes, separate from everyone else's) for over 2 years.

I used to wash, dry, fold and give it to her to put away. But she never put it away. All of her clean clothes and dirty clothes would end up in a heap on the floor mixed together. And I got sick of it. I told her that if she couldn't bother to at least put the clothes away herself after I had done all the other work of washing, drying and folding, that I wasn't going to waste MY time dealing with her clothes, and she could do them herself. So she has ever since.

Now I don't complain about the pile of clothes on her floor (well, not MUCH), and I never have to listen to any whining that I didn't wash what she wanted to wear...because its not my problem.

 

[Rora]

I was spoiled rotten as a child and refused to do any laundry. I was a real joy.

My mom never taught me either. I got to college and relied on the help of my friends or took it home. It's really pathetic.

My children will at least help out with the laundry!

 

[allison443]

My dd has her own laundry hamper and it's up to her to know when she is running low on t-shirts, underwear, whatever, and she needs to run a load of laundry.

Our washing machine has adjustable water levels, from small to extra large. So I guess I don't see how that wastes water? If they have a small load, they just use the small setting.

 

[xanphylus]

My DD9's laundry gets done whenever she decides to tell us that she needs clothing..... as of late, that has been about every 2 weeks- so by then, yup- her laundry is done by itself. It's usually 2 loads, and I throw her towels in with all the others. She has to help fold them and she puts them away. All the other laundry is done usually every other day. She helps with that on occasion, but usually only towels.

To stop her from not putting them up properly or leaving them in the hamper unfolded, the crap fairy visits her room on occasion while she is at school. This fairy takes away the clothing that is not in hampers when dirty and the clothes that are not properly folded or hung. She also has been known to take away books or toys if they have been left out where the fairy trips on them or has told her to put it away previously. The clothes are given back after she keeps her floor clothing free for a while. She is a fashion girl, so this works well. Forbid she had to live without one of her precious shirts or fav pairs of pants. lol.

 

[laurafergie]

Everything is on a budget around here, including water and electricity. So when everyone is home all the utilities do increase. When the older ones started in the teenage years, I had to make a rule, that if they were going to do a load of laundry - then it had to be full, no exceptions. Otherwise, the washer would be running non stop with the little loads with seven people in the house.

 

[charming23]

I have been doing my own laundry since I was 12. My mom showed me what to do and to always make sure I had a full load and I have been doing it ever since. I think it is such an important skill to learn.

Now my cousins on the other hand were 24 and 21 when they finally went away to college and had never done a load of laundry in their lives. They had to rely on my aunt either coming out to their school and doing it for them or bringing it home. Thankfully they learned this summer.

 

[jsmith]

From the time they were high school freshmen my sons did their own laundry-cooked at least one family meal and week-sewed buttons and mended tears. The reason-my husband was helpless when i married him-even though he did not live with his parents he took his laundry to his mothers to wash-and any cooking beyond grilling burgers he went home to mama for-i refused for my sons to go to college, the military or out into the working world thinking they needed mama-or any female to take care of them.

 

[JVL1018]

Nope, I don't make my kids do the laundry(they are 9 and almost 11).

I never did one load of laundry until I moved out at 21-it took me all of 3 minutes reading the washer to figure out how to do it. It's just not something that I think is imperitive to learn when you're young.

My kids do ask to help. They like to switch the clothes from the washer to the dryer, or start the loads-and just recently when I was really busy I asked my daughter to go throw in a load and she did it, but that's very rare-it's actually the first time ever.

I actually like to do the laundry, I don't find it a chore--if I'm going to make my kids work around the house, I make them do stuff I hate, like cleaning the bathroom.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

DD16 has been doing her own laundry for about 3 years - ever since she got mad when something she wanted to wear wasn't clean (it would have been had she let me know she needed whatever it was before the morning she wanted to wear it). I showed her how to do her own laundry and now she does all of her own clothing and usually her towels. If the towel supply gets very low then I raid her bedroom and usually find a good supply of dirty towels and wash a load just to restock the closet.

She usually does laundry once a week.

DD12 is not remotely ready for the responsibility of using the washer and dryer alone. She would need some direct supervision for quite awhile before I would let her use the machines alone.

 

[Buckalew11]

My 16yo DD has been doing her own laundry since she was 13. I just want her to be responsible for it. She waits quite awhile in between so her loads are big anyway.

If I had a son, he'd be doing his own also.

She also helps in the kitchen and can cook anything you give her.

 

[fizzle350]

I knew how to do laundry by the time I was 14...whether I did it or not is another story Since I'm in college I have no choice, but when I was in high school my mom usually did mine along with hers since it was just the two of us

 

[descovy]

My kids are still fairly young... 10, 8, 6 but I wash/dry and if applicable hang clothes. The "hangey-ups" go in the laundry room, (for the girls to put away with their laundry) the rest go in individual hampers. The girls are responsible for putting clothes away neatly in their closets and bringing down empty hangers.

For me, I do laundry on my day off (Mondays) I don't mind folding because I'm watching TV in the living room. The kids Monday evening are responsible for putting their hamper away after homework.

When the kids are home on school holidays they fold with me... because the sooner the wash is done, the sooner we can go out and do something!

I do laundry just once a week. I think I will always do the laundry even as they get older because I like full loads. It would bug me to no end to have half-loads be washed all the time. Because we are a family of 5, I can seperate out my loads more specificly and still make a large load...

I like "bleachy-whites"
non bleach lights
blues/jeans
blacks
reds/purples (hey I work at Target & have girls who wear purple/pink! )
and then a full load of towels, and a full load of sheets.

Letting little mini-loads go through the wash all week long would cramp my style!

So hey, my kids may only have to put laundry away... but they make up for it in other ways... beds have to be made/ room picked up DAILY before breakfast. Closets have to stay tidy. No clothes on the floor!

(although if you do it daily, it's pretty easy) I havent cleaned a kids room in YEARS!

 

[lovesmurfs]

I have read this many times on some threads recently and I am not sure I understand it. When people say their kids do their own laundry, do they mean they wash their clothes separate from everyone else? If so, why?

My kids know how to do laundry. I frequently call out to one or the other to wash the towels, whites or regular clothes. They know how to use the washer and dryer with their eyes closed. They are also responsible for putting away their own clothes. We all take turns sorting. I can't imagine them doing their own laundry though. Isn't that a huge waste of water? I get wanting them to know how to do laundry but I am way too cheap to have them do it separately.

Yep. DS16 has been doing his own since 8th grade. He plays football (now a junior), and quite frankly, if he's going to smell it up, he's going to wash it.

You haven't smelled anything if you haven't smelled a set of sweaty football pads....

 

[LisaR]

Yep. DS16 has been doing his own since 8th grade. He plays football (now a junior), and quite frankly, if he's going to smell it up, he's going to wash it.

You haven't smelled anything if you haven't smelled a set of sweaty football pads....

In that case, my kid would be doing his own laundry, too. Heck, I just might have to buy him his own washing machine!

 

[golfgal]

My dd has her own laundry hamper and it's up to her to know when she is running low on t-shirts, underwear, whatever, and she needs to run a load of laundry.

Our washing machine has adjustable water levels, from small to extra large. So I guess I don't see how that wastes water? If they have a small load, they just use the small setting.

It doesn't waste water but it uses the same electricity to do a small load as it does a large load.

DD16 has been doing her own laundry for about 3 years - ever since she got mad when something she wanted to wear wasn't clean (it would have been had she let me know she needed whatever it was before the morning she wanted to wear it). I showed her how to do her own laundry and now she does all of her own clothing and usually her towels. If the towel supply gets very low then I raid her bedroom and usually find a good supply of dirty towels and wash a load just to restock the closet.

She usually does laundry once a week.

DD12 is not remotely ready for the responsibility of using the washer and dryer alone. She would need some direct supervision for quite awhile before I would let her use the machines alone.

When our kids were in 6th grade they had a laundry unit in their home ec class. DS15 did all of our laundry for almost 2 years (I paid him). It was great and he was MORE than capable of using the machines. Give your DD a little credit.

When we were 10 my mom showed us how to do laundry and we helped from then on. In high school I did all the laundry in the house-that was my 'job' around the house. Our kids help with laundry as needed and in the summer pretty much do all of the laundry. If they don't get their clothes down when I am doing laundry they do their own. They are not allowed to do small loads so if they don't have enough to do a load they gather from others in the house to fill it out.