fbpx

I Do Not Fold My Kid’s Clothes and Here’s Why

Written by:

I am terrible with laundry. There I said it. I can keep it clean, but I am terrible at folding it and putting it away. I am not sure why this is the case. I would rather cook dinner, garden, DIY around the house and even clean my house over putting away laundry. It is not that I cannot do it; I do not want to do it and will prioritize anything else over laundry. My aversion to folding and putting away clean laundry occurred well before our kids came along, therefore I cannot blame the downfall on volume.

When my husband and I were first married, there were no expectations that I would suddenly begin doing his laundry especially since we both worked full time jobs. When we were first married, I worked night shift and would often be up late at night on my nights off needing quiet tasks to keep me busy. Running errands late at night was not an option so I would often knock out laundry on sleepless nights. I quickly learned that my husband was very particular about his clothes. He once mentioned to me that if I did not pull his dress shirts out of the dryer quickly enough, I would need to iron his shirts. Considering my aversion to all things laundry, ironing was not about to happen. For $20-$30 a month we now have his shirts laundered at a dry cleaners. It has been well worth the money, and I don’t spend hours ironing clothes.

When my kids became older than the age of two, they wanted to exert some independence on what they wore. They often “helped” put away their clothes, and “helped” to pick them out. It did not take long for their drawers to become a scrambled mess. For a while, their clothes were a major headache adding to a chore that I already despised.

I have discovered one trick that has helped with the volume of kid’s clothes and getting theirs put away. Each child has a basket with a color specified to each child that we use to sort their clothes. The kids are old enough to help us sort their clothes into their baskets, and they take them to their rooms to put into their correct drawers. Are they folded? No. Why? Because I have watched my kids unfold and scramble the clothes in the drawer making the time I spent folding wasted.

Will I teach them to fold their clothes? Yes, they will learn how to fold their clothes at an appropriate age, but for now they have some independence, they are learning responsibility and I have a little less to put away. Are my clothes put away? Rarely ever. I am a work in progress, and I have accepted it is a chore I will never master.

 

Writer Bio: Summer Bolte

I spend most of my time and days with my three kids, husband and dog. My kids frequently play near me as I garden, cook, DIY and volunteer. My most unusual paying job has to be feeding fruit flies in a research lab, and my most fulfilling job was being an oncology nurse for seven years.  

Share THis