Why do people get obsessed over laundry?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t imagine doing laundry for my kids over the age of 10. They are completely capable and should be doing their own. If you’re doing it for them consistently then you are babying them.

That's a real lack of imagination. Imagine...other households running differently than yours!
Here's one of MANY examples. My teen Ds gets home from high school basketball practice at 9:45. His practice uniform needs to be washed and dried and in his backpack by 7:15 am. Should he stay up late doing laundry? Not the best use of his time. He needs to eat, shower and go to bed.

Simple. Tell Ds to get a second practice uniform.

You know nothing. The practice uniforms are issued by the public HS. Each kid gets one jersey and one pair of shorts, and they must be washed every night, worn to every practice and brought to every game. You don't "just go get" another one.

You get another if you send your child to practice with a note explaining how the laundromat lost the uniform and you need another - Yes. I’ll pay if necessary.

This makes it easier for the child to manage their own laundry, and teaches problem solving skills.

This is especially necessary for young boys who should never be allowed to let women do their chores. He’s washing his basketball uniform, period.

You really have no understanding of high school sports. There is no "buy another one". The practice uniforms are hand me down game uniforms. They have exactly enough. The players are expected to show up with clean practice uniforms every day. The player would be punished severely for a lost uniform. No excuses.
The parent doing her HS kids practice laundry so he can sleep understands this. You don't.

I have high schoolers. What school/sport do they go to where they get 1 practice uniform for 5-6 days of practice a week? There would be an absolute rebellion on any team my kid has been on.

This was accurate for public hs boys basketball and public hs boys soccer. FCPS. Practice or game 6 days a week. One practice uniform per player and no one has ever complained or made an issue of it as far as I've heard.

Because moms wash boys uniforms and don’t complain. Which girls sports do this?

[Anonymous]

This must be a spin-off from the laundry thread in Off-Topic.

I agree - for those who have washing machines in their houses laundry should be easy peasy.

It’s those that are forced to schlep their dirty clothes to a laundromat or community shared laundry room w/limited hours that really have it bad.

Nothing like going out in the rain or snow when it’s freezing outside just to wash your stuff. 😤

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with OP. Laundry is the easiest, most enjoyable household chore. It even smells nice! You can do it while watching TV. It doesn't require strength or endurance -- I can do it even if I'm sick or exhausted.

If you have your own in-unit washer and dryer, sure. If you have to hike down/up multiple flights of stairs to use basement units, and/or pay for the privilege, less so. Don't take for granted your ability to carry things. It does, in fact, require strength. Trust me, doing laundry with a bad back, bad hip, bad shoulder, bad knees... not great. Certainly not "enjoyable".

Well I live in a single level condo, so yeah, I don't have to carry the laundry up and down stairs. But also if you have a bad back, bad hip, bad shoulder, bad knees... You probably don't enjoy washing dishes or mopping floors either. The average person is capable of carrying a basket of laundry up and down the stairs with zero strain.

Yikes!!
I am fifty-six & no longer can carry a full laundry basket up stairs in an apartment complex w/o strain.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:People also have lost the ability to cook, do their own grocery shopping, and pick up their own takeout. We are the laziest society ever

You can't take it with you and time is precious.

Well this attitude is your problem right there.

If you view your time as something that should only be "spent" on things you find enjoyable or rewarding in narrowly defined ways, you are going to be a dissatisfied, impatient, unhappy person.

Being a human being in a living, mortal body requires a certain amount of caretaking. Even if in the modern world and with enough money you can outsource some of that caretaking, some of it you will NEVER be able to outsource. You can't pay someone to go poop for you, or take your showers. I guess you could outsource brushing and flossing your teeth but... why would you do this.

Learning to efficiently but diligently perform basic caretaking and hygienic functions, including laundry, is just part of being a person. Laundry truly does not take that much time unless your clothes are very hard to clean (which is a choice, especially in this day and age when most jobs allow people to wear machine washable clothes that don't need to be ironed). If you cannot dedicate the 30-40 minutes a week to laundry, then what else are you considering to be unbearable drudgery? This is such a basic activity.

This is why some religions and philosophies advise learning to engage in a form of mindful diligence, particularly while doing these daily chores. If you can find pleasure in the act of folding laundry, flossing your teeth, trimming your toddler's nails, packing a lunch, you can find true and rewarding joy in life. And when you find this, you stop having this attitude of "my time is running out, I can't waste it on these pointless chores!" Instead, you realize that true happiness comes not in clearing your schedule of all drudgery so that you can spend it laughing uproariously while sky diving and inventing an app.

Outsourcing laundry is different from outsourcing taking a crap.

If anyone needs this explained I can help.

True happiness comes in the ability to enjoy the something as simply as the physical act of folding a t-shirt and placing it in a drawer.

Thank you DeeCUM Chopra.

Sometimes I am so exhausted after working all day that I wish I could outsource someone to shower for me!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who tells their kid to lie to their high school coach in order to cadge a free extra practice uniform? That's sketchy. If they are caught lying, they will be running laps and benched.

I’m paying for the uniform.

This is only the case if they are not making a uniform available and the child cannot do laundry in the morning. This edge case is highly unlikely because PP is exaggerating and being dramatic.

You don't pay for high school practice uniforms. They wear hand me downs from previous seasons. You can't buy more. They aren't available for purchase. You don't seem to understand how public high school sports work. Its OK! Just admit you were wrong.

Bro, you don't wear your meet/game/dress getup to practice. What kind of noob mess is this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People also have lost the ability to cook, do their own grocery shopping, and pick up their own takeout. We are the laziest society ever

You can't take it with you and time is precious.

Well this attitude is your problem right there.

If you view your time as something that should only be "spent" on things you find enjoyable or rewarding in narrowly defined ways, you are going to be a dissatisfied, impatient, unhappy person.

Being a human being in a living, mortal body requires a certain amount of caretaking. Even if in the modern world and with enough money you can outsource some of that caretaking, some of it you will NEVER be able to outsource. You can't pay someone to go poop for you, or take your showers. I guess you could outsource brushing and flossing your teeth but... why would you do this.

Learning to efficiently but diligently perform basic caretaking and hygienic functions, including laundry, is just part of being a person. Laundry truly does not take that much time unless your clothes are very hard to clean (which is a choice, especially in this day and age when most jobs allow people to wear machine washable clothes that don't need to be ironed). If you cannot dedicate the 30-40 minutes a week to laundry, then what else are you considering to be unbearable drudgery? This is such a basic activity.

This is why some religions and philosophies advise learning to engage in a form of mindful diligence, particularly while doing these daily chores. If you can find pleasure in the act of folding laundry, flossing your teeth, trimming your toddler's nails, packing a lunch, you can find true and rewarding joy in life. And when you find this, you stop having this attitude of "my time is running out, I can't waste it on these pointless chores!" Instead, you realize that true happiness comes not in clearing your schedule of all drudgery so that you can spend it laughing uproariously while sky diving and inventing an app.

Outsourcing laundry is different from outsourcing taking a crap.

If anyone needs this explained I can help.

True happiness comes in the ability to enjoy the something as simply as the physical act of folding a t-shirt and placing it in a drawer.

Thank you DeeCUM Chopra.

Sometimes I am so exhausted after working all day that I wish I could outsource someone to shower for me!

I want that Fifth Element "autowash" SO badly some days!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with OP. Laundry is the easiest, most enjoyable household chore. It even smells nice! You can do it while watching TV. It doesn't require strength or endurance -- I can do it even if I'm sick or exhausted.

If you have your own in-unit washer and dryer, sure. If you have to hike down/up multiple flights of stairs to use basement units, and/or pay for the privilege, less so. Don't take for granted your ability to carry things. It does, in fact, require strength. Trust me, doing laundry with a bad back, bad hip, bad shoulder, bad knees... not great. Certainly not "enjoyable".

Well I live in a single level condo, so yeah, I don't have to carry the laundry up and down stairs. But also if you have a bad back, bad hip, bad shoulder, bad knees... You probably don't enjoy washing dishes or mopping floors either. The average person is capable of carrying a basket of laundry up and down the stairs with zero strain.

Yikes!!
I am fifty-six & no longer can carry a full laundry basket up stairs in an apartment complex w/o strain.

This supports the claim made by many on this board that people need caregivers once they hit 55.