Does everyone else's teens do their own laundry?

[Anonymous]

^^^ not Annie a weird

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. My 15 yo will do an emergency load for himself on occasion if he has something specific he wants washed. But no, it just doesn’t make sense to do it that way in our household.

I don’t think it’s as common as dcum makes it out to be.

Agree. It makes more sense for us combine laundry, rather than do many small individual loads.

This is fascinating to me. After a week of school/work, pajamas, working out/sports, each of us definitely at least one full load. No one is doing small individual loads.

Each person is responsible for the full lifecycle of their own laundry. Accountability for what goes well and what doesn’t. I have not helped anyone find a lost or dirty uniform in 3 years or so. Now that the kids wash their own clothes, they keep track of their items and there are no arguments about that. Everyone is happier.

Do you also do the thing where if the person before you doesn’t get their laundry out you leave it in a wet pile on top of the machine?

Ha! No, definitely not. We help each other out if we see something is in the wash/dryer. Honestly, we aren’t that organized. Doing laundry by person pretty much completely eliminated the problem of missing clothes, uniforms, socks, etc.

[Anonymous]

Mine help, but I operate the washer. It’s an expensive piece of equipment. But they are expected to sort and bring it to laundry room, hang dry if necessary, fold and put away.

[Anonymous]

I started doing my own laundry at 12. But no, my teen & tween don’t do their own. They know how to do it. They bring everyone’s laundry down, it gets washed together (usually by the parents), we all help fold, and everyone puts his/her clean clothes away. So they help, but it’s a communal effort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I never did my laundry growing up and my kids don’t do any either except for the college aged one. It’s something that doesn’t really need much instruction and I don’t think it’s unusual for 18 year olds are doing laundry for the first time in college or their own place.

Same.

[Anonymous]

My kids have folded clothes since about 6 but they don't do their own laundry. Laundry is super easy IMO. You just shove it in, put detergent in and push start... It's the folding and putting away that's the hard part.

I will make sure they know how before going to college though. I had several friends who had never done laundry when I was in college.

[Anonymous]

My teens (14 and 16) have done their own laundry for years but I’ll move the clothes from the washer to the dryer if I happen to walk by. You just throw the laundry in and press a button. It’s an easy task.

[Anonymous]

Mine never did. They learned at college. When they come now they prefer to do it themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

That’s quite a leap.

[Anonymous]

Our washing machine is top load and I have to stand on my tiptoes to barely reach the bottom. So I haven’t pushed laundry for our kids who are shorter than me. Is that just us?

[Anonymous]

No, my teen knows how and can and will sometimes throw something in but I do it all together. Sometimes they fold, sometimes do. They are in tons of activities.

[Anonymous]

My kids have helped do their own laundry in some capacity since they were very little. Starting in MS, I had them take more responsibility and build awareness (“looks like your fav hoodie is dirty; should we throw it in washer so you can wear tomorrow?”). By HS, they do almost all of it with occasional reminder (“washer is open; want to run a load?”) and help for hectic weeks (ie, sports uniform for multiple games per week).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

That’s quite a leap.

My college boyfriend had to teach me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

That’s quite a leap.

My college boyfriend had to teach me.

Lol…did you just wear dirty clothes until you found a boyfriend?

[Anonymous]

I’m pretty strict and mine don’t generally do theirs. My daughter usually puts hers in and sometimes changes it but I often change it and fold it, since it’s usually done after she’s gone to bed.
For my son, I basically always do his. His stuff stinks and I want to make sure it’s washed correctly to get rid of the smell.
They both have lots of other chores.

Also, I really don’t want them breaking my washing machine by overloading it or leaving crap in their pockets. My mom never let us do laundry, even though we otherwise worked like dogs, because she couldn’t afford to replace the washing machine. And we all learned to do laundry, so I don’t see it as a big deal.