Category Archives: parenting tip

Teaching My Kids To Do Their Laundry

Teaching My Kids To Do Their Laundry

Never Ending Laundry

Laundry is a never ending chore at our house as I am sure it is at a lot of houses with multiple kids. I am in the habit of doing all of the laundry because I am home more often. All three of my kids have been in charge of putting away their clean laundry for a long time. However, only occasionally do they actually help me fold it and it’s been even rarer that they helped me get their clothes into the laundry.

How We Separate Clothes

Everyone seems to do laundry very differently. I do not mix the kids’ clothes at all. Each of them has a laundry basket in their room and I normally do their laundry once a week. That way I don’t spend more time trying to separate clothes during the folding and putting away process. With the girls being the same size for a long time now, it’s just faster for me to keep it separate. Otherwise I would accidentally put the wrong jeggings in the wrong closet and it would wreak havoc for entirely too long.  I also do not separate whites/darks for them. All of Stella’s clothes go into the washer at once. My kids don’t own many “whites” that aren’t really loaded with images and colors.

The Girls’ New Process

This school year I decided enough is enough. Both girls are in elementary school (4th and 6th Grade) and some of their friends are doing laundry…so why aren’t mine? I sat them each down and had them pick their laundry day. I said it had to be a school day and a day when they didn’t have another evening activity. So Charlotte picked Mondays and Stella picked Thursdays. Then the lessons began again. I have shown them numerous times how the washer and dryer work, but all of the options are confusing when it’s not done very often. This time I changed things up and wrote on the machines. Yes, I did. My machines are old school and I plan to keep them until they die. So I grabbed a Sharpie and circled all the settings the girls needed to check. And wrote them some extra directions.

Success

So far? It’s working. The girls come home from school and have plenty of time to get their laundry finished before dinnertime. They have way less questions now that the machines have written directions. I told Henry he has one more year of me doing his laundry before he goes to elementary school. So for now, he’s off the hook and only has to put away the clean clothes that magically appear on his bed once a week.

At what age did your kids start doing their own laundry?

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Read Aloud Time with the Kids

Read Aloud Time with the Kids

It had been a long time. Really too long. We used to read with the kids every.single.night. But then we basically did our jobs and BAM! they were readers. All three of them. So they got to read to themselves or to each other each night before bed. The routine was the same, the reader

Allowance Jars – Give, Save, Spend

Allowance Jars – Give, Save, Spend

Allowance Time Once the kids had Chore Charts that finally worked for us and they were getting old enough to make use of spending money, we wanted to start incorporating a weekly allowance. Just like chore charts, not every allowance system works for every family. However, here is what we have found works for us

The Chore Chart That Finally Works for Us!

The Chore Chart That Finally Works for Us!

The Chore Chart System That Works for Us I have to admit we started and stopped many chore chart efforts over the past few years. However, I’m happy to say we finally found a system that works for us. We are using a magnet system that lives in our mudroom. This location works well for

Chair Pockets

Chair Pockets

We have a great group of neighborhood ladies who are connected together on Facebook. Our neighborhood is 30+ years old and everyone is starting to update bathrooms, kitchens, backyards, etc. Last fall a few neighborhood moms that it would cool to host our own “Parade of Homes” and see in-person what each other is doing

Swim Bag Checklist for Kids

Swim Bag Checklist for Kids

Pool Season is HERE! It’s pool season and I love it! The only thing I don’t like about pool season is the process of packing up to go to the pool. Charlotte LOVES to pack her own bag and helps me get everything ready to go. However, the bags she always used were inconsistent and

Summer Bucket List

Summer Bucket List

Yesterday, my kids had a one-hour early release. We had a little extra time after school before swim team practice. And everyone was hyped-up about the idea of summer starting. So I made them have a snack at the table and each kid create a list of things they wanted to do over the summer.

How to Create a Fairy Garden

How to Create a Fairy Garden

A couple of weeks ago I posted about painting fairy houses and clay pots. The kids really did enjoy that craft and then planting their own flowers for the Fairy Garden. But I also needed a few other supplies for our garden to come together completely. Let me say my motto was “go big or

Water Bottle Holder

Water Bottle Holder

When it comes to being a stay-at-home-mom with three little kids…well, I’m becoming more and more in love with small conveniences. And some of them are totally unnecessary, but I’m ok with it. Like my new “water bottle holder”. I cannot tell you how many times the kids throw their water bottles into a nice

Oh, the Places You’ll Go – End of School Tradition

Oh, the Places You’ll Go – End of School Tradition

I’d be surprised if you haven’t seen this on Pinterest or heard someone else tell you about it. You might ask yourself, who really does this? ME! I have three of these books – one for each kid. I started it at our daycare/preschool. Whenever one of my kids graduates from a classroom, I ask

The Secret to Bunk Bed Sheets

The Secret to Bunk Bed Sheets

If there’s one chore I really despise…it’s making the girls’ bunk beds. I am actually headed to boot camp this morning and will most likely burn the same calories as when I change their sheets. I’ll probably also be in some of the same positions. Making the top bunk often looks like doing a burpee.