I'm just wondering at what age you started to do your own laundry? And, if you have kids, at what age did you have them start doing their own? I personally love doing laundry. It's quiet and relaxing for me. And I find it extremely satisfying to take the clothes from dirty to clean. I love the smell of laundry soap and fabric softener, too. I love to take things out of the dryer and sniff them. It's just so, I don't know, comforting to me? Yeah, I guess that's what it is. (Plus, and I don't mean to brag, I'm good at it. I'm fantastic at making sure there are clean things to wear. I'm not so great at the folding and putting away part, but there are almost always clean clothes available for the whole family. They really don't have anything to complain.) So, I'm kind of hesitant to give up being the one solely responsible for it. (It's also a control thing for me. Don't act like you're surprised. I just know that if I'm the one doing it, its being done the way I want it to be done. Well, duh Christa. Of course it is. Right there I was just predicting what some people were thinking about that statement. ☺)
Presently, I do let my kids switch stuff from the washer to the dryer and turn it on. I don't ever let them load or start the washing machine. I guess I don't trust that they will put the soap, fabric softener, color bleach, etc. in the right places in the drawer. Or, that they won't throw a red sock in the whites. (Controlling.) I do let them fold towels (it's veeeeerrrrryyyyy hard for me to let them do it if they don't do it the way I like, but I'm trying), but nothing else. (Because I'm terrible at the folding and putting away part.) So, why am I even asking this question? Because it's a skill that they WILL need to learn and I'm going to have to teach it to them eventually. I just want to know when that time should be.
3 comments:
I'm like you. I'm a control freak when it comes to laundry. I have to do it my way. I don't think my mom ever told us we needed to learn how. I just wanted to do it on my own. I think it was end of Jr high or beginning of high school. Natalie wanted to do her own to. My mom was telling me that last time she helped out at your house, Ryan didn't know how to do the laundry haha. Anyways I would either wait until they want to do their own or atleast until high school. But that's just me. I have to control the way my laundry gets put away. I'm very OCD about it.
You are honest! And funny! We started with the putting clothes away after they are folded. The kids were 3 when we started doing that. I put pictures on the drawers so they put the clothes in correctly. When they were a bit older, probably 5 or 7, we had them start folding their own laundry and then putting it away. By the time they are 10-12, they were completely doing their own laundry from start to finish. By 12, personally, I think they should be able to do every chore well. Whether or not they actually do it well is a whole 'nother ball of wax, but the ability is there!
I always folded my own clothes, for as long as I can remember, but I didn't wash them until I turned 13. My parents went on vacation, and my grandma came to visit for a week. She ruined my favorite shirt in the washing machine! I was furious, I cried and ranted and raved, and from then on, I did my own laundry :)
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