ProudGrandma Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 One of the chores my 6, 9 and 10 year old are responsibile for is putting away their clean clothes after I wash them. I don't fold...I just wash and dry and dump in a basket. My 10 year old daughter will fold and put her clothes away nicely, but the boys just dump their shirts in the shirt drawer, pants in the pants drawer, unders and socks in their drawer. Should I be making them fold their stuff (especially the 9 year old) or is this ok for now? Would it bother you if they didn't. (oh their dress clothes I hang up for them...usually one set for church is all) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grace'smom Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 One of the chores my 6, 9 and 10 year old are responsibile for is putting away their clean clothes after I wash them. I don't fold...I just wash and dry and dump in a basket. My 10 year old daughter will fold and put her clothes away nicely, but the boys just dump their shirts in the shirt drawer, pants in the pants drawer, unders and socks in their drawer. Should I be making them fold their stuff (especially the 9 year old) or is this ok for now? Would it bother you if they didn't. (oh their dress clothes I hang up for them...usually one set for church is all) :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momofkhm Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 I don't know if it would bother me. At my house most of the time, if I don't fold it and tell them to take care of their clothes, it will stay on the couch forever! For me, if they were taking it to their rooms and putting them in the correct drawers, probably not bothered. But then I wonder if it will set them up to not fold forever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie in NE Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 Well, my 9 and 10 yr-old sons act like they don't know the difference between a pants drawer and an underwear/sock drawer...... so no, it wouldn't bother me, if they just put their clothes in the correct drawers. In fact, I'd count it a success, praise them over it, and then say "OK, now for the next step.... let's see if we can fold the clothes as we put them away... Kudos to you, Mom. You're ahead of me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 Well, I taught my 2 boys to do their own laundry when they were 8 and 10yrs old. I didn't require any folding. They were pretty rumpled for a couple of years, but then my ds' Aspie/slight OCD kicked in, and he began to fold his clothes. The other one started around 10. So, I think rumpled is ok, but I probably should've just made it the rule that they fold their stuff--it not only helps everything go in the drawer better, but it also teaches them to take care of their clothes, to do a good job with what they are given, to finish a task, and to do what they should even when they don't feel like it. Maybe you could sit with them for a couple of weeks and fold alongside them, to make sure they know how to do the sleeves on shirts, match the seams on pants, fold undies, etc. Then just spot check or fold alongside them from time to time. I also offered mine "laundry grace" once in a while--doing it for them and surprising them with a folded pile on their beds. :D We all need a little grace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2denj Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 I would probably not get mad, but I would make them take them out and fold them before they get to do............ Eventually they will fold them in the first place. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mysticamethyst Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 It would bother me only because of the wrinkles in all of his clothes, socks and undies I never fold. If wrinkles don't bother you then don't worry about it. I would be worried though if they didn't start now they might never start, my boys are creatures of habit, so if its not habit they don't do it and at 17 yo it would bother the crud out of me to have him leave for work in wrinkly clothes.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted February 25, 2011 Author Share Posted February 25, 2011 I also offered mine "laundry grace" once in a while--doing it for them and surprising them with a folded pile on their beds. :D We all need a little grace. this is nice...I will have to do this once in a while too. thanks for the reminder...we do all need grace once in a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 My DD sits with me and folds clothes (back when she was really little, when I was folding and ironing was one of the few times I'd turn on the TV-so it evolved into her helping me while watching Sesame Street or whatever-and now it's her folding while I'm ironing, which always seems to take just long enough that she gets to see a whole Phineas and Ferb episode (or something) ) -and then drags the heap to her room and dumps the clothes in the drawer, by which time they've lost all semblance of folding. I kind of figure that when she gets older and has clothes that aren't all knits (except for church dresses) that she'll realize that there's a reason why we fold clothes and that leaving them folded has it's advantages :). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5forMe Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 At our house: They bring down their full hamper (each child has a hamper for dirty clothes), sort the laundry into piles by color and make sure all socks are not scrunched up (I certainly do not want to put my fingers inside someone's sweaty socks to pull them out straight). I wash, dry and fold the clothes and place them into each child's laundry basket. When I am finished, I call the kids to come and get their laundry basket and put away their clean clothes. I have to specify that I want the laundry basket back by the end of the day or my kids would live out of their clean clothes laundry basket. My daughter, age 11, puts all of her clothes in her dresser but not in separate drawers (I don't know how she finds anything), it doesn't bother me. My boys ages 13, 10 and 6, all put their clothes away nicely. I do have to get after the 13 year to return the basket because he will let it sit there full until I ask for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dakarimom5 Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 Each of my children has their own laundry basket. I sort the clothes and then each basket goes into the correct room. All my children put their own clothes away. My 4yo puts her clothes away with my help. I would do it for her but it is one of her favorite things to do. If one of my older children makes the mistake of not putting clothes away and then putting those same clean clothes into the dirty clothes pile they get laundry duty for one week. They have to wash, dry, sort and fold everything...before they can do anything else. I wash about 10-15 loads of laundry a week so I don't have this problem very often.;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionfamily1999 Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 My mom used to force us to fold our own laundrey and put it away :D My brother discovered that when Mom went to check, she just peeked in the top of the drawer. Problem solved! We would stuff our clothes in the drawer and then carefully place folded laundrey over the top. :lol: I wouldn't worry about it. One day they'll want nonwadded up shirts and pants and then they'll start folding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 It doesn't bother me. They just stuff it all in the drawer and are wrinkled. The only clothes we (my dh and I) take care of are their good church clothes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 It wouldn't bother me, ds did the same thing. We had to get specific on what "put away" meant. Then we let consequences work. He couldn't find a clean shirt because he'd piled them on a chair in the closet. So mom got to help, he didn't like that. :D Then I wouldn't him wear a shirt that was too wrinkled out of the house, more frustration. I like him to hang all of his shirts, that way they can't be wrinkled. We just moved and haven't set up our closets quite yet, but he has room for that here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 One of the chores my 6, 9 and 10 year old are responsibile for is putting away their clean clothes after I wash them. I don't fold...I just wash and dry and dump in a basket. My 10 year old daughter will fold and put her clothes away nicely, but the boys just dump their shirts in the shirt drawer, pants in the pants drawer, unders and socks in their drawer. Should I be making them fold their stuff (especially the 9 year old) or is this ok for now? Would it bother you if they didn't. (oh their dress clothes I hang up for them...usually one set for church is all) That's the way *I* put it away in ds's' drawers for years because if I folded it, that's the way it would end up in a day or two--however long it took for them to look for a specific shirt. Unless you are going somewhere formal, most kid clothes shake out pretty well and no one expects T-shirts to look ironed anyway. I would not worry about it. My ds's started doing their own laundry around age 11. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mejane Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 Wow, they actually put them in drawers? Mine live off the top of their dressers. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinF Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 We hang everything except underwear and night clothes. Our rule is that it needs to be put away and if they put clean clothes with dirty (like pull something off hangers and don't wear it) then they pay me a laundry fine of $1 per item. So I wouldn't care if it was wrinkled and not folded but if that is important to you teach them to fold it. Having a folding time and then have them put it away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HLDoll Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 I only recently started making my 3, 5, and 7 year old kids fold and put away their laundry. I sort everything and then hand them each their basket. We have folding parties together so I can supervise and assist with tricky pieces (hooded sweatshirts, slippery fabrics, etc.). I also walk to their rooms to supervise the putting away. I like for them to lift and put the freshly laundered items on the bottom of the drawers so the same few pairs of undies and shirts aren't being worn over and over. I'm hoping that after a few months of training, I won't have to do so much supervising, except for maybe the 3 year old. But I'm amazed at how well they do when the expectations are set high and they get appropriate praise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooahwife Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 One of the chores my 6, 9 and 10 year old are responsibile for is putting away their clean clothes after I wash them. I don't fold...I just wash and dry and dump in a basket. My 10 year old daughter will fold and put her clothes away nicely, but the boys just dump their shirts in the shirt drawer, pants in the pants drawer, unders and socks in their drawer. Should I be making them fold their stuff (especially the 9 year old) or is this ok for now? Would it bother you if they didn't. (oh their dress clothes I hang up for them...usually one set for church is all) I fold my kids' clothes and make them put everything away. It's to be done neatly. If they don't keep their drawers neat I dump everything out and they have to do it right. My oldest doesn't like dealing with that so most of the time it's not an issue; kid #2, on the other hand, not so much. That child doesn't like to even wipe tables properly, let alone take care of clothes. That child receives more drawer dumpings than the others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5forMe Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 If one of my older children makes the mistake of not putting clothes away and then putting those same clean clothes into the dirty clothes pile they get laundry duty for one week. They have to wash, dry, sort and fold everything...before they can do anything else. I wash about 10-15 loads of laundry a week so I don't have this problem very often.;) :glare: I HAVE found perfectly folded (by me) clothes in the dirty clothes pile.....I made the offender do something similar to what you described and let's just say...hasn't happened again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 (edited) It would bother me, but I am pretty anal about folding clothes the proper way. It takes great restraint for me NOT to tell dh not to do the laundry. Not anal about other housework, unfortunately. (I joke with dh that I CAN'T WEAR (not were) rumpled clothes because the body underneath is already rumpled looking.) Edited February 25, 2011 by dirty ethel rackham major misspelling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RanchGirl Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 At our house: They bring down their full hamper (each child has a hamper for dirty clothes), sort the laundry into piles by color and make sure all socks are not scrunched up (I certainly do not want to put my fingers inside someone's sweaty socks to pull them out straight). I wash, dry and fold the clothes and place them into each child's laundry basket. When I am finished, I call the kids to come and get their laundry basket and put away their clean clothes. I have to specify that I want the laundry basket back by the end of the day or my kids would live out of their clean clothes laundry basket. My daughter, age 11, puts all of her clothes in her dresser but not in separate drawers (I don't know how she finds anything), it doesn't bother me. My boys ages 13, 10 and 6, all put their clothes away nicely. I do have to get after the 13 year to return the basket because he will let it sit there full until I ask for it. This is about what I do. My husband can't fold clothes properly, so I would be pretty surprised if a 6 year old could. If I fold everything I expect the boys to put them away neatly and return the laundry basket to the proper location within a few hours. The wrinkles and disorganized drawers would bother me, but if they don't bother you, and the kids can find their things when they need them, I think your system is fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crissy Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 Should I be making them fold their stuff (especially the 9 year old) or is this ok for now? Would it bother you if they didn't. (oh their dress clothes I hang up for them...usually one set for church is all) Have you spent enough time teaching them how to fold their clothes and organize their drawers properly? If not, I wouldn't be bothered by it, but assume they don't really know what is expected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTMindy Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 I don't think it matters if it bothers us or not. If it bothers you there are only two choices. 1. Fold them yourself and put them away for them. 2. Train them to do it right. This will take time and consistency with whatever discipline that you feel is appropriate. Both are totally acceptable options, and it is going to be work for you either way. If you are asking if a 6 and 9 year old are capable of doing that work? Yup, but it will take a little while to get there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasharowan Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 My ds14, ds9, and dd11 can do their own laundry from start to finish except ds9 needs help transferring from washer to dryer because he can't reach the bottom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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