Does everyone else's teens do their own laundry?

[Anonymous]

I needed doable chores that had personal consequences if they weren’t done, yet were still flexible for schedules…my 14yo was first responsible for “helping” pair socks as a preschooler, for folding laundry with me as a 5-9yo, for putting her laundry away from 9+ and somewhere around 12 for doing the washing of her laundry. Like others have said, I will also do the occasional load here and there if it is just needed to be done and time is short.

[Anonymous]

DC Started doing their own laundry as they started high school. When their schedules are tight, I’ll help them out.

[Anonymous]

Same, started in HS, although many friends started their kids doing their own laundry in MS.

[Anonymous]

I do the laundry (though I have shown them both how to do laundry). My 14 year old folds the kids laundry about half the time (I have split custody so if they’re at their dad’s I just do it so it’s not sitting around). My 11yo does not help yet, though I need to make him start.

[Anonymous]

My kids in HS can do their own laundry and usually do. But often it doesn’t make sense and one of us throws in everyone’s clothes together to make full loads since we are doing ours anyway. They were not doing their own in middle school.

[Anonymous]

I’ve taught mine (12 and 14) how, but they don’t do their own mostly because it would take a while for each of them to get a full load and they don’t have enough clothes for that!

I do it for the household, but they each fold and put away their own. And anything that’s put into the hamper without being right-sided out gets deposited back in their room until they fix it. I don’t have time for that.

[Anonymous]

Mine started his at age 8 and did all of his by age 10. I’m a single mom so maybe I expected more of his at an earlier age.

[Anonymous]

When my son went away to college he had to help other kids figure out how to use the laundry machines in the dorms. He was shocked they had no life skills.

[Anonymous]

My sons began laundry (their clothes only) in the summertime around hs age. With summer clothes, there was less possibility of messing up with T shirts, socks and gym shorts. They were required to fold and put away too. Be prepared for them to start laundry at 11 PM! LOL. I handled the sheets and towels, although I chose a day when they had to strip their bed. I called it laundry lite.

[Anonymous]

I started doing my own washing when I was 12. There was an altera motive behind it, but I like the independence. Our son plays football and only has a couple of team uniforms, so they need washing twice a week. He does his own and has done since he was 10. From what I have seen, most of his friends don’t

[Anonymous]

My boys do their own laundry and started at age 12. Do I enforce it being perfected folded and in drawers. Nope. So is there usually one dirty pile and one clean pile of clothes on their bedroom floors? Yep.

[Anonymous]

DD(16) is supposed to bring her laundry to the washer on Wednesdays and Saturdays. She remembers most of the time. She pre treats anything stained and starts it. If she forgets until after dinner, she sets the timer for it to run early the next morning. I switch it to the dryer (pulling out anything that needs to air dry) or DH hangs it on the clothes line in the nicer weather. Clean clothes are dumped in a pile in her doorway so she puts them away. I’ve found when I have her clean clothes in a basket, she keeps the basket and doesn’t put away the clothes in a timely manner.
She’s been doing this since around 10.

[Anonymous]

I probably did 90% of their laundry (as well as DH’s) when they were in high school, but they certainly knew how, did it sometimes, and had no difficulty adding that to the list of things they needed to do to take care of themselves when they went to college. For it is just an efficiency thing, I work at home a few days a week and much easier for me to just collect everybody’s and do it at once rather than have four different people busy trying to use the washer.

[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 kid has done his own since 10. It was one thing off my plate and a way for him to learn responsibility. My husband and I will of course do his laundry if he is drowning at school or sick or something. We do help out and he helps us. He is 15 now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids started doing their own around 10.

+1

Mine too. It was less about teaching them how to do it and more about 1) learning that just because you wore something once, doesn’t mean it needs to be washed. 2) related to #1, all those damn sweatshirts were driving me crazy 3) I cannot remember which of your clothes don’t go in the dryer (issue with older teen girls) and 4) I do the laundry once a week so if you want something cleaned before then, do it yourself