My Dirty Laundry (maternity, pregnancy, activities, daughter)

[NCyank]

I guess it is a team effort in this house. The kids each bring their laundry down and sort it into hampers, that helps them remember to pull undies out of pants, unball socks, etc. I wash, dry and hang up. Anything that doesn't get hung (which is most of it because I use the dryer very little) goes into a basket, one basket for kids stuff and one basket for DH and I. Everyone puts up their own hang up clothes and one evening (usually while we are watching TV and almost always on Friday) we fold what is left in the baskets, each folding our own. Well, DH usually folds mine with his because I have done all the washing, hanging and drying so it comes out even in the end.

If people leave socks balled up, I wash them that way. They are not really clean and usually still wet so they have learned and it doesn't happen often. If they put shirts inside out, I hang them that way. DD has a habit of having one pant leg inside out and I have been hanging her pants like that too. Whatever is left in pockets is mine, including money...it's a nice tip, I got $5 just last week.

Anyone who is consistently causing me to take extra time to do laundry gets to be Laundry Helper for the week and that usually takes care of any recurring issue, or they take care of it themselves after finding their clothes in wonky condition after laundering....damp, balled socks, shirts and pants hung inside out, etc. We really don't have any recurring issues anymore.

Originally Posted by 20yrsinBranson

We keep a box of baby-wipes on the back of our toilet so that we avoid the skid mark issue entirely. Even if in a public restroom there usually is some soap and water and if not paper towels at least some toilet paper. I have never quite understood why people would walk around with dirty butts.

Anyway. I believe that children should be taught to do their own laundry.

20yrsinBranson

I second the recommendation for baby wipes in ALL bathrooms. No skid marks here in years...since the kids were babies and I figured out the wipes work just as well on everyone else.

[vukinjo]

I do the laundry and I get the undies in the pants often lol...I think I might try the letting the kids take each others out..good idea!

I actually don't mind doing most of the laundry..its the putting the clothes away I like the least.

[cdc3217]

Originally Posted by movingtohouston

I do the laundry in our home, dh claims he can't figure out how to work the washer(its a newfangled front loader). I don't have any issues with the underwear left in the pants. My issue is socks. My sons and hubby leave them everywhere. It never fails, I will do 10 loads of laundry and then find an entire load of socks just strewn everywhere around the house. Drives me nuts,.

LOL. I bet he's got the TV with 11 remotes under control, though. Have to say I find balled up socks everywhere! I found one in the kitchen this morning - What is up with that? I guess all these complaints sound pretty familiar.

I am totally motivated after reading these posts to get my kids doing their laundry.

[haggardhouseelf]

Originally Posted by movingtohouston

I do the laundry in our home, dh claims he can't figure out how to work the washer(its a newfangled front loader). I don't have any issues with the underwear left in the pants. My issue is socks. My sons and hubby leave them everywhere. It never fails, I will do 10 loads of laundry and then find an entire load of socks just strewn everywhere around the house. Drives me nuts,.

Turn the tides. Don't nag them to pick their socks up, and don't pick them up for them. Pretty soon they will learn... it's so not cool going to work or school without socks on. When they ask "Where are my clean socks?" just reply, "I didn't see any of your socks while I was doing the laundry sweetie... were they with all your other dirty laundry?" They will learn.

[regarese]

Originally Posted by haggardhouseelf

Turn the tides. Don't nag them to pick their socks up, and don't pick them up for them. Pretty soon they will learn... it's so not cool going to work or school without socks on. When they ask "Where are my clean socks?" just reply, "I didn't see any of your socks while I was doing the laundry sweetie... were they with all your other dirty laundry?" They will learn.

I can't wait to do this to my kids. LOL. In our house laundry is split 60/40 with my husband being the 60. I HATE doing laundry-probably because I've been doing it since I was 12 years old when my mom found all my clean clothes under the bed and started making me wash my own clothes.

[aomething]

In my house when you turned 12 you got your laundry for your birthday. So, I have started to excel this lesson to my son, who is 6. He helps sort his dirty clothes, when they are folded and in his basket, he puts them away. I still wash and fold, but he's been putting his own clothes away since he was 2 1/2. Start them early!! This will come in handy once he goes off to boot camp! Also a great place to learn how to do laundry!!!

My son loves to help me do laundry. He folds the socks for everyone. If one is missing its mate, it goes back in the hamper with a piece of string attached to it. This is in case the mate is forever gone and we don't keep washing the same one over and over, we'll know from the string.

[drjones96]

Originally Posted by Hoosier

Who does the laundry in your house? Well as you can imagine in my house it's primarily me. I'm coming off a laundry room overload and water all over the floor again! So here's my question. Have you ever given clean clothes to your kids only to find them in the laundry....still folded?! Last Saturday I praised my nine year old for cleaning her room and getting all of her clothes put in her dresser and closet. Today I find the majority of those clothes neatly folded and admist all the dirty laundry!

Oh, and another question, who here deals with family members who leave their underwear in the pants and toss it in the laundry? I've tried to explain to my kids that no matter how gross they think it is, I still have to do it. So, last week I made them pull each others dirty underwear out of the pants. They were both grossed out. It worked on the boy, but the girl still hasn't gotten it. She takes after her mother! Love them all sooooo very much and they are my life, but seriously, I'm tired of skid-marked underwear and clean clothes in the laundry. Okay, I feel a bit better now.

Awesome topic. My wife and I both team up on the laundry. It's hard to do during the week because of our 2 yr old and his antics but we try to do at least one load in the evening. And then we hit it hard on the weekends. I honestly think we could do laundry night and day though. It's never all clean. No sooner than we finish the last bit of it there's another pile to do.

What really cheeses me off is when I've folded a whole bunch of stuff and our 2 yr old comes along and messes it all up...and even mixes it with some dirty clothes I was getting ready to wash. OMG I want to string him up by his ears sometimes. Our 11 yr old is responsible for putting her laundry away. As is the 4 yr old. The 4 yr old used to walk into her room and just dump her folded clothes in the floor. After a few butt chewings and timeouts she got the message that there is a place for clean clothes and that's not in the floor.

As far as separating items that have bonded together I think it's just a fact of life. I'm guilty at times of taking my clothes off carelessly. (ie underwear still in pants with legs turned inside out, socks halfway inside out, shirt sleeves inside out.) When I take my time and think about it I do it right. And if I screw it up you know the kids do too. We just try to set it right when we load the washer.

[drjones96]

Originally Posted by movingtohouston

I do the laundry in our home, dh claims he can't figure out how to work the washer(its a newfangled front loader). I don't have any issues with the underwear left in the pants. My issue is socks. My sons and hubby leave them everywhere. It never fails, I will do 10 loads of laundry and then find an entire load of socks just strewn everywhere around the house. Drives me nuts,.

When I was growing up the one thing I never had to do was laundry. My mom spoiled me in that respect. I wish she wouldn't have because she wasn't doing me any favors. Because when I got married my wife wasn't exactly the Suzie-Home-Maker type.

But I got an intro to laundry short course when I went to college. A friend of my dad was talking to me and asked if I knew how to do laundry and I said no. He said, "Well there ain't nothin' to it. You just put the clothes in there with the soap and turn the s--t on. " He was right. Easy stuff.

The socks. OMG the socks are horrible. OK I've got my socks straight. I've got black socks for work and white socks for playing and the white socks are all nike with a black swoosh on them so they are easy to spot. My wife and kids OTOH have a million different socks and they leave them everywhere. I did a load of socks once (an entire load with nothing but their socks) and I think I had a couple dozen singles who didn't have a mate in the end.

Originally Posted by aomething

In my house when you turned 12 you got your laundry for your birthday.

Need to talk to my wife about this tradition it sounds great.

[IonRedline08]

This thread makes me feel better about myself

I am a 28 y/o male that lives alone. I have been doing laundry since the age of 10, and am actually quite good at.

I have a hard time folding, but my ex bought me a folding board which makes it easy

I always put my dirty clothes directly into the hamper. I never leave socks lying around.

My room is messy with clothes, but almost all are still on hangers, so I can easily put them back. My shoes end up in a pile, and I put them away about twice a week as well.

My apt is also pretty clean, as is my kitchen. My bathroom is too, except for the tub, which needs a scrubbing.... Can't win em all!

[okpondlady]

I used to have to go to the laundry mat when my kids were small. To keep them occupied and out of trouble I had them helping me. They sorted, loaded, helped me take out and move to dryers... folded. Everything. I have never regretted it. My youngest is 11 and she is our laundry girl. When we got our new front loaders she wanted to watch the dvd and she is totally in charge of the washer/dryers. She is good at it too. Other than her...... hubby does the majority of the laundry. My oldest daughter is 15 she does ALL her own laundry, including her bedding.