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| Chaz putting away a load of laundry |
With having to do so much laundry every day I thought it might be time to teach my boys how to do their own laundry now that they are old enough. I called each of them back to their room one at a time to talk with them about it. Their laundry is super easy and since they have 3 bins, I made them each in charge of one bin. Chaz only washes shirts, Ryan washes bottoms, and Kyle washes underwear and socks.
Ryan was soooo easy to teach. To make it easy I basically told him to just divide them up in only two piles, darks and lights. I made arrows on the washer and dryer with numbers on them so they would know which buttons to press first. It was so easy Ryan got it right away. He was so excited to learn it all that he didn't even want me helping him after his first load. (Not sure how long that'll last. haha)
Then I told them that after it's done drying they need to put it right away. Not leave it out anywhere. Between the 3 boys they get all their clothes washed really fast. Many hands make light work. That leaves me to only wash linens, mine and Charles' clothes, and the girls. That's still a lot but at least not as much as before! lol.
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| Washer showing the stickers I made that are numbered 1-4 |
Chaz on the other hand was really, really hard to teach. I thought it'd be fast and quick to teach him like Ryan. But nooooooo..... Right after I showed him out to sort I heard the dryer going. I thought that was odd since he just went into the garage to throw the wash in only 5 minutes before. I asked him why the dirty clothes were drying. He said, "Well, isn't that washing them?" He even opened the dryer to show me how nice they looked. I was laughing so hard because he kept trying to convince me. He said "They don't even smell!" hahaha. I explained it to him again but somehow he thought I meant to go get all the clothes already hanging up in his closet and wash them. So next thing I know, the dirty clothes are still on the floor and all the clean clothes are in the washer! Baby steps. Baby steps.
In our house when kids are helpers, they are called Hero Helpers. Kids that are willing to pitch in with a smile on their face and a good attitude are my little heroes because they lessen my load just a little bit. When every one does their part, it is huge for me. :)
3 comments:
Awesome! We taught our kids to wash their own laundry (supervised at first) beginning at age 4. From 4-5 their only required to sort the laundry, which also serves as a quick homeschool lesson when you have them count the items in a pile or ask to have things separated by color (this makes a lot of piles, but it's worth it!). Ages 6-7 they're required to sort their laundry and start the washer. We made this easy by putting cute animal stickers by each of the settings we wanted them to turn the dials to. We have a homemade detergent that the kids help make, so I'm not too worried if they accidentally put more than 2 Tbsp. in! Ages 8 and up, they're required to wash their linens once a week and to help the little ones in the same process they learned, along with washing their clothes independently. The kids help with hanging the clothes on the line as soon as they understand how to bring me something when asked. The dryer is reserved for ages 8 and up because of the heat and things let inadvertently in pockets.
Having their help has been a real help to me and they love being able to do something themselves. Kudos to you for having your sons, and not just daughters, learn this life skill!
Ooh! I really dislike typos... "they're required," not "their." My apologies!
Awesome! It really does help to have the kids pitch in. I can't imagine not teaching them how to pitch in. I'd be working nonstop.
Thank you for your comment. :D
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