The Experiment

My 2 oldest boys, Lee (10 - soon to be 11) and Champ (9) are having to do their own laundry. Yep, from beginning to end...wash, dry, fold and put away. I still wash their towels and washcloths, but they are responsible for their own clothes.

This started about a month ago. The boys have their own bathroom with a laundry basket for dirty clothes. I empty it everyday because I do 2 loads of laundry a day (more on somedays, but 2 is my minimum). I do not go into their room in search of dirty clothes (I am trying to teach them responsibility) because they are supposed to put their clothes into the laundry basket in their bathroom.

One day while they were in school I did all the laundry and when they got home from school I asked them to clean their room. When they finished, their laundry basket was over flowing (there was at least 1 load of clothes there). Now this was not the first time that this had happened, but if I could help it, it was going to be the last. That's when I made them responsible for their own laundry.

They had on occasion helped me with laundry and I helped them the first few times until they learned how, now they are completely responsible for their own laundry. We do have some ground rules...1) they are to do their own laundry (not talk their brother into doing it for them), 2) they are to do their own laundry (they are not to wear dirty clothes - they do NOT want to know what will happen if they wear dirty clothes because they are not doing their responsibilities).

This does several things, teaches the boys how to do laundry (which could be helpful when they are older and decided not to get married or get married later on in life or if they get married pretty soon after collage they can help their wife - yes, I am already trying to score points with my future daughters-in-law), it teaches the boys more responsibility and it helps me (now remember they brought this on themselves).

We do not have chores around our house, we have responsibilities (basically it is the same thing, but the word 'chores' has a negative sound to me and responsibilities are something you never outgrow and are not necessarily negative - my children are one of my responsibilities and they are quite pleasant - on most days).

When I decided that they were to be responsible for their own laundry, I made them each a laundry bag, I put a button hole in the back (wish I had used a large grommet instead) and they hang it on the towel hook in their bathroom. They put their clothes in the bag and when it is full, they do their laundry. Champ is great at this, I never have to ask him or remind him to do his laundry, Lee on the other hand is not so great. His bag can be overflowing and I still have to tell him to do his laundry. I do, every now and then, have to remind them that the washer has stopped and they need to put their clothes in the dryer and stuff like that, but they are really doing great with it.