Laundry is my chore nemesis. I have never enjoyed folding and putting away clothes although I was required to help my mom growing up. Now that I have three kids of my own, it is even more of a struggle. The laundry is never ending and very repetitive. I would much rather be out in the yard gardening or painting my walls a different color. Basically, I will do anything else before putting away clothes.
With my kids getting older, I have begun to teach them how to help me with the laundry and here is why.
Kids Should Help
Neither my husband or I lived with our parents in our adult years, and I do not plan on our children living with us. Because they should live on their own in the next 10 years, it is important that they learn how to care for their own clothes before they live on their own. In addition to learning how to care for their clothes, I get a little help with the chore that I hate. It is important that they learn at an early age that they are part of a family and everyone must chip in to make everything work well together.
How They Can Help
Do you think your kids are too young to help? Our youngest is almost 4-years-old and enjoys helping with our laundry. We have to be intentional about including her, but she will help if we let her. Typically, she helps to sort the clothes into baskets for each family member. Even though she is only 3, she knows what clothes belong to each family member. Our oldest is 9-years-old and feels important and helpful by learning how to wash and dry the clothes.
All three of our kids are capable of sorting clothes into baskets. Once clothes are sorted, our oldest two are required to put their clothes away. We attempted to learn Marie Kondo’s method of folding, but it did not last through a recent move we made. We do hope as we settle into our new home, that we can teach them folding again. Currently, our kids place their clothes in their correct drawers. They are not folded, but it is a start on teaching them the chore.
Our Sorting Method
Our kids have different color plastic cubbies that their clothes are sorted into. The cubbies are just big enough to hold their clothes and small enough to make it easy for our kids to carry themselves. Our kids are required to take their clothes to their rooms, put the clothes away and return their cubbies to the laundry room for the next load. Kids seem to learn the routine quickly with initial help and reminders of the process.
This is just one chore our kids help with. We also give our kids an allowance for some household chores.
