Once my children turn 13 years old, they become responsible for their own laundry. I had been a little more generous with my youngest son (you know how that can be…the whole “it’s my baby” thing).
But the past couple of weeks, I have finally been strong enough to let him deal with the repercussions of letting dirty clothes pile up on the floor. Not wanting to wear dirty clothes for school today, he threw in a load of wash last night.
Thankfully I decided to watch how he was doing it. I had taught him how to use the washing machine a few months ago but realized he may need to be refreshed on that teaching.
That is my first tip for any parent who has decided their child is old enough to wash their own clothes. Take them step-by-step through the process. This includes selecting the temperature, how much laundry detergent to use, etc.
I also recommend typing up these instructions and posting them over the washing machine. This way it takes just one glance and your child will know what to do.
My second tip is to teach your children to sort their laundry. We had a terrible laundry fiasco about a week before school started when my daughter threw in one big load of her clothes.
Everything white turned grey. Her dark grey jeans had bled through her socks and shirts. She was so upset and I ended up having to buy replacement clothes…so then I was upset.
When you are teaching your children to do their own laundry, mention the importance of reading the tags. Some garments require special care.
Teach your children to make sure the legs of their pants are pulled out straight. Otherwise they will be wrinkled even after drying them. Oh, and the same with socks. My oldest son was notorious for washing and drying his balled-up socks. It doesn’t really work.
Finally, teach your children to check all of their pockets. There have been many times lip balm or an iPod ended up in the wash…not good.
What other tips do you have for teaching your children to do their own laundry?
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Photo by jim212jim in Flickr