Who puts away your 4th and 5th graders laundry

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Forum -> Household Management -> Cleaning & Laundry

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Who puts your 4th and 5th graders laundry away

I fold it and put it in their drawers

41%

[ 33 ]

They put it in the drawers themselves

37%

[ 30 ]

They live out of their laundry basket

[ 4 ]

Household help puts it away

16%

[ 13 ]

Total Votes : 80

amother

Sun, Mar 03 2024, 10:02 pm

My cleaning lady used to fold and put it all away for me but two years ago she left. The ones I’ve had since can’t seem to hack it even if I separate it by kid. I really really hate folding and putting it all away. My two oldest kids are 4th and 5th grade. Completely old enough to do it themselves, but they don’t and I don’t want the basket ending up on the floor and I have very little time in the morning to deal with any laundry issues
So every Sunday night I put all my children’s laundry away….

amother

Natural

Sun, Mar 03 2024, 10:07 pm

Mine put it away. What do you mean they don’t? When I started implementing it I said it needs to be done before they can run off to play etc.. I have them do it on a Sunday so there is enough time for them to drag it out. They saw I was serious and now they do it quickly and move on.

amother

Cadetblue

Sun, Mar 03 2024, 10:19 pm

I fold the laundry. Then hand them each a basket and tell them to put it away. No ifs ands or buts.
One kid uses to throw it in every time. Drove me nuts. I explained to her that I worked for this to make it look nice and 5 minutes later she makes a mess out of it. It's not nice.
She listened agreed. Next week same thing.
Until one time I wasn't feeling well, I asked her what she wants to do to help. I had a list of 5 things. She chose to fold all the laundry. I told her and her sisters only underwear and tights. She was so confident she can do it ALL. LOL.
By the time she was done she was sooo exhausted.
YOU BET she put it away nicely. 😜
She kept saying afterwards how exhausting it was and wow she didn't even do a 1/4 of the stuff. And I do this every week. And that I don't kvetch (not to her I don't LOL

)
Since then she started putting it away nicely keeping the drawers neat.

amother

Sand

Mon, Mar 04 2024, 1:08 am

I love folding laundry. What’s the fuss.

amother

Natural

Mon, Mar 04 2024, 1:17 am

amother Sand wrote:

I love folding laundry. What’s the fuss.

Great so you volunteering to fold op’s laundry?

ray family

Mon, Mar 04 2024, 1:22 am

I fold. My kids put away. Starting from when they’re toddlers I’ll give them one or two things to stick in their drawers.
Some children put their stuff away nicely, others don’t.
I’ll help the younger kids maintain order, but if the older kids don’t want to that’s their choice. Just like if I iron something and they stuff it into their closet they’ll have to re iron it.

amother

Papaya

Mon, Mar 04 2024, 9:16 am

Vast majority of the time I do it. Ever so often I ask them to. In general, if I ask my kids to do something not very complex and they don't get around to it, I wait until they ask me for something and then say sure, as soon as you take care of what I asked you to do earlier. That gets it done.

amother

Molasses

Mon, Mar 04 2024, 9:21 am

I don’t fold, neither do my kids. Just gets thrown into the drawers/baskets as is. We do it as a Sunday evening activity as a family. Everyone pitches in

happy7

Mon, Mar 04 2024, 9:32 am

If there is a very clear and organized, designated place for them to put it, they won’t mind doing it.
Even My 3 year old can easily take his socks and put them into the sock basket in his drawer. And he can put the pajamas where they belong. He knows where they go bec they are ALWAYS in the same place. but if there isn’t a bin or space for him to put the stuff, he won’t be able to do it.
And the same applies for any cleaning help.
If they know exactly where everything goes, they can tidy up, but if you don’t know yourself, they certainly cannot be expected to figure it out.

amother

Whitesmoke

Mon, Mar 04 2024, 9:35 am

Perhaps it helps not to let it accumulate.
Do laundry more often
I have 3 girls, plus me, and 1 boy, plus my husband.
It’s easier to fold 4 pr of tights than 28. It’s easier to iron 2 shirts than 14.

We do laundry DAILY. I do 1 dark load, one light color load, and pj, underwear, towels load. Yes, 3 loads daily. This is what works for us. You do what works for you.

The kids set up there clothing from the night before.
So, that means that sometimes they just wear it the next day, instead of putting it away.

Also - all outer clothing (tops, skirts, shirts, pants) gets hung up, since they don’t go in the dryer

flowerpower

Mon, Mar 04 2024, 9:40 am

I wash dry fold and put away the laundry for all
Household members. There are special laundry days so laundry doesn’t accumulate or stay in the dryer forever. Once in a while my teen will volunteer to put them away ….

essie14

Mon, Mar 04 2024, 10:40 am

My DD is in 1st grade. I put all her folded laundry in a basket and she puts it in the correct drawers.

amother

Tulip

Mon, Mar 04 2024, 10:44 am

My cleaning lady folds and leaves it in piles on top of dressers (my oldest few kids are close in age and same gender so it can be tough to tell whose is whose) and they put it away themselves. They whine and complain and sometimes leave it longer than it should be, but eventually it gets put away when they get tired of not knowing where their stuff is lol.

amother

Wallflower

Mon, Mar 04 2024, 10:55 am

My 2yo puts away a couple of items with help.
4-6yo have a small basket of clothes to put away.

Obviously there's a lot remaining for me to put away, but I see it more as an investment to gradually get them used to doing it all on their own.

zaq

Mon, Mar 04 2024, 11:02 am

Children that age are more than capable of folding and putting away their laundry and dealing with the consequences if they don't. I would dump each kid's stuff in a basket and leave it in their room. If they put it away, great. If not, and they can't find what they need when it's time to leave the house, they go to school in pajamas. I'm betting it won't take long for them to see the light.

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