Does everyone else's teens do their own laundry?

[Anonymous]

I do all laundry - will ask kids to bring down darks or whites or towels or whatever. Prefer to have full loads. They sort and remove their clothes to their rooms (not often folded).

[Anonymous]

It's not that I can't or mind doing my 16 year old's laundry. It's that I want him to get in a habit of doing it himself and learning how to do it. Plus he made a couple of smart ass remarks about how I haven't done it yet one week so now he gets to be on his own schedule

[Anonymous]

Still waiting to learn the big secret to doing laundry that takes years of practice. As long as clothes get to the hamper it's a very small task imo.

[Anonymous]

No. We do our laundry communally. Usually DH or I the ones to notice the washing machine is full and turn it on, but the kids know how to do it. The kids are usually in charge of the sorting afterwards. We all fold our own clothes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not that I can't or mind doing my 16 year old's laundry. It's that I want him to get in a habit of doing it himself and learning how to do it. Plus he made a couple of smart ass remarks about how I haven't done it yet one week so now he gets to be on his own schedule

Lol, yep, this is what happened at our house too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Still waiting to learn the big secret to doing laundry that takes years of practice. As long as clothes get to the hamper it's a very small task imo.

Who said it takes years? Since it's such a small task, the kids can do it themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Still waiting to learn the big secret to doing laundry that takes years of practice. As long as clothes get to the hamper it's a very small task imo.

Who said it takes years? Since it's such a small task, the kids can do it themselves.

I agree, laundry was one of the simple self-care tasks I had my kids take on. The other was cleaning their own bathroom. Small chores that don’t take much time, but they do ingrain the idea that kids need to take care of their things and personal spaces.

[Anonymous]

If they start it, and then are off to school or activities I’ll “move it along” bc I’m home and that’s hardly any effort, but I definitely never fold and put it away, or initiate starting it. If I have a towel or sheet load and want to add to it to make a full load, I may go through their bins for towels but that’s about it.

I think it’s sad that people do their kids laundry honestly. Especially if your kids are boys. It’s not a hard task and they need to learn to fit it into their lives and not expect that laundry does itself. Enough men act like it’s not their job why encourage more of that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids are 11 and 13 and have never done their own laundry. I thought this was normal, but over in another thread, most commenters are saying their kids have done their own laundry since they were tweens/teens. For context, I don't mind -- I telework and it's easy to throw some laundry in over the course of the day. As housework goes, I don't hate it. Also, I never did my own laundry as a kid. I had other chores but my parents did my laundry for me until I went to college. Do most kids transition to doing their own laundry at some point while still living at home?

My kids have been doing their laundry since about 9-10. Extra points - we don’t own a washer /dryer, they have been using the laundry in our building.

But you are not alone- as reported by my middle child, lots of freshmen in her dorm were really stumped by the process. Like how do you remember to do it unless you find out you don’t have clean underwear and what do you do if all machines are occupied at that moment and you have a class in two hours?

[Anonymous]

When I was 15, I found a pair of my (used) panties in my dad's bedside drawer, which I am sure my mom knew about. To this day it makes me gag to think about what they did with them. From that point on, I guarded my clothes, to the point of doing my own laundry. I didn't let either parent touch it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Geez. When I got full into puberty, getting my period, and most definitely masturbating every night before bed, I absolutely felt it was my business to maintain my privacy by doing my own laundry by age 14. I even had a towel I kept on my bed, under the sheets for obvious reasons and there was no way my mom was going to wash that!

TMI. But why would masturbation require you to do your own laundry. What a bizarre post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I was 15, I found a pair of my (used) panties in my dad's bedside drawer, which I am sure my mom knew about. To this day it makes me gag to think about what they did with them. From that point on, I guarded my clothes, to the point of doing my own laundry. I didn't let either parent touch it!

Wtf are you talking about? Sick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Geez. When I got full into puberty, getting my period, and most definitely masturbating every night before bed, I absolutely felt it was my business to maintain my privacy by doing my own laundry by age 14. I even had a towel I kept on my bed, under the sheets for obvious reasons and there was no way my mom was going to wash that!

TMI. But why would masturbation require you to do your own laundry. What a bizarre post.

Because he didn't want his mom to find his crusty towel. How do you not know this???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Geez. When I got full into puberty, getting my period, and most definitely masturbating every night before bed, I absolutely felt it was my business to maintain my privacy by doing my own laundry by age 14. I even had a towel I kept on my bed, under the sheets for obvious reasons and there was no way my mom was going to wash that!

TMI. But why would masturbation require you to do your own laundry. What a bizarre post.

Everyone woman/mom here knows that girls can also leave evidence on sheets that need washing. To disagree would be an afront to their femininity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Geez. When I got full into puberty, getting my period, and most definitely masturbating every night before bed, I absolutely felt it was my business to maintain my privacy by doing my own laundry by age 14. I even had a towel I kept on my bed, under the sheets for obvious reasons and there was no way my mom was going to wash that!

TMI. But why would masturbation require you to do your own laundry. What a bizarre post.

Everyone woman/mom here knows that girls can also leave evidence on sheets that need washing. To disagree would be an afront to their femininity.

I only have a son, and he does his own laundry, but if I had a daughter, she'd be doing the same thing. This isn't the clever flex you think it is.