WHAT WORKS FOR US - LAUNDRY....SORT OF

Because I know my husband will get on here and point it out, let me clarify that HE is the one that usually does the laundry in our house.

Now all of you may be wondering how in the world I get him to do laundry.

The question should be: How do I get him to STOP doing the laundry?

Several years ago, it used to drive me crazy when he would grab the laundry and start sorting and washing it - usually on a Sunday afternoon. I'd always say "I WILL do that, you know. I do it through the week." And he'd say "I need something to do, I don't like to sit and do nothing."

Because he's a fidgeter.

Seriously, he started doing the laundry to expel his excess energy.

And I can't get him to stop.

Anyway, when I was the laundress of the household, I hated sorting. In our previous house, the washer and dryer were in the "kids bathroom" in a closet. I used to keep baskets in the bathtub, hidden behind the shower curtain and sort laundry on the bathroom floor. I actually liked that setup better than what we have now because I had more space.

Eventually I decided that all the sorting was driving me crazy and I needed to teach the kids to do it - the sorting that is.

Because isn't that why we have children - so they can start doing all of our work for us and, by the time they're teenagers, we can sit on our duffs and eat chocolate all day?

So my children were five and eight years old when I decided to turn them into little laborers.

I bought 3 tall narrow laundry baskets for each child and placed them in their rooms. I told them that each basket was for a different kind of clothes - dark, whites and brights. Then I spent a week or two helping them put their clothes in the baskets each night after they undressed - jeans go in this one, underwear in this one, your colored shirt in this one. Sheets and towels were done separately.

Within a couple of weeks, they had learned to sort their clothes as they undressed each night, and when I was doing laundry I'd say "Blake bring me your dark basket," or "Kayla put your bright basket in the laundry room." Then when that load was moved to the dryer I'd tell them to bring in another load.

They learned it very easily.

See it's important to indoctrinate...I mean TEACH our children these things very young while their brains are pliable enough to resist rebellion...I mean take things in easily.

And this has worked beautifully for us all these years. It basically means that only one person's laundry is being done at once and it really cuts down on the congestion in my laundry room, which is also the entrance from our garage and is very tiny. It also makes folding and putting away easier because it's all going to one room.

Now we are tweaking things a little bit. This summer we made a rule that each child will do his or her own laundry.

*GULP*

Upon hearing that announcement, the children wailed and thrashed and moaned. Child labor lawyers were called. The term "sweatshop" was thrown around.

Oh, I'm kidding.

They have accepted it pretty well.

There are a few reasons that I insist my children do their own laundry:

- They are part of this family, and as such, can do part of the work. Period.

- When I got to college, I was SHOCKED, shocked I tell you, at the number of young adults who could not do their own laundry. I do not want my children to be laundrarily* challenged.

{*laundrarily -(lawn - DRARE - i - lee) of or having to do with laundry, the washing, folding and putting away thereof. }

- This summer I really got behind on household chores and decided I needed to get them to help.

So we had a brief review on the workings of the washer and dryer and I told them it is up to them to get their clothes washed, dried, folded and put away.

I know they are getting them washed and dried and taken to their rooms. I'm not so sure about the folded and put away part. But I don't care. They're doing their own laundry.

Blake has jokingly said he doesn't like this new rule because it really takes a lot of time to fold clothes and put them away.

I told him "Waaah! Welcome to my world."

Because I like to set a good example of compassion and maturity.

Now, after school starts we are going to make the kids each commit to a laundry day. They will have to pick a day to do their laundry and it MUST be done that day so as not to cause a traffic jam in the laundry room. Because each of us is eagerly awaiting our turn for our weekly laundry experience.

Now, once I get them to clean the toilets I'll be on easy street.