Really, my kids do their own laundry and here’s proof.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stevUEz5xPQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8WMlrLqazk

I hope you enjoy these videos as much as we had fun making them.  Also I have added a link to my site for the Hanes Classics EZ Sort® socks!  Color coded socks by size make sorting them a breeze.

Both of my boys push and pull their laundry basket into the laundry room once a week and shove as many clothes into the washing machine as possible.  We have a front loading washer which makes it very convenient for them to reach, but my seven year old thinks it would be much more fun if we had a top loading washer so that he could play basketball with his dirty clothes.  The boys don’t sort their clothes out by darks or lights, we just shove it all in and wash it on a cold cycle.  Life in general is a lot easier when you don’t have to sort it out. 

I measure and pour in the laundry soap and toss the soap cup in with the clothes.  Then I let the boys push the right buttons to start the washing machine.  I usually set the buzzer alarm for when the wash is done so that the boys know when it is time to switch the laundry to the dryer, but it’s amazing how selective their hearing is on laundry day.  After a quick reminder they have no problem putting the wet clothes into the dryer and I start the dryer for them since they can’t reach the buttons.  When that’s done they take all the clean clothes out of the dryer and put them into their laundry basket and take it back to their room to be sorted and put away.  We have some fun tips and tricks I’ll share with you in my next post (we’re going to make a video)!

So you might be asking yourself, “How do you actually get them to do it without the whining, moaning and groaning?”

Well, I give them a choice: either do your laundry or go naked.  It really is their choice.  My four year old actually gets excited about running around naked instead of doing his laundry, but that is short lived when he realizes he can’t go outside and play and/or he gets cold, which ever comes first.  My seven year old decided he’d just wear dirty clothes, which was fine until I put them all in the washing machine and that’s where they stayed, nice and wet.  I gave him a choice, he could either put them in the dryer or just leave them there, because I was not going to switch them over, I had already done him the favor of washing them.  He quickly caught on to the fact that he was going to have to be the one to put them in the dryer, and pull them out when they were done, or else he was going to school the next day in his pajamas or wet clothing.  Again totally his choice. 

I love it when my kids have to make choices!  They learn so quickly that way!

My boys have come to learn that having clean clothing is a previlage that they have earned through their hard work.  The day after laundry day, when all their clothes are hanging up in their closet and they can choose anyone of them, they really get excited.  They’re proud of themselves because they know that they created this good feeling through their own efforts.  I just love it when my kids are happy and proud of themselves, when I have less work to do, and laundry day isn’t for another week!

Now that life is back to normal (if that’s what you want to call it) I am blogging again.  I’m doing a happy sigh right now.        (sigh)          I like to write. 

So where were we?  Oh yes, the ever so dreadful laundry.

I have learned a few things over the course of doing the laundry for a family of six.  Things like: 

~  Don’t buy dry clean only clothes, it’s not worth the time or money.

~  Treat a stain with RESOLVE MAX™ Stain Stick^® and forget about it.  (See previous post  http://www.triedandtruemommy.com/2009/10/stick-it-to-stains/comment-page-1/#comment-37)

~  Have separate laundry baskets for whites and darks and put your clothes in the appropriate baskets as you take them off at night.  Tah-dah, no sorting on laundry day!

~  If it has to be ironed wait to iron it till you’re about to put it on.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to stand there for an hour and iron all of my hubby’s “office” shirts when it only takes him two minuets extra in the morning to iron one himself.  And, save yourself some money by not having them dry cleaned.

~  Don’t buy anything that has a tag on it warning you that the colors will bleed.  No red shirt is worth turning your son’s socks pink!  I have heard of Shout® Color Catcher® sheets that stop colors from bleeding (see the link on the left of my page for more info).  Some people swear by them but I’ve personally never tried them.  Why?  Well . . . one, I’m too cheap to buy them, and two, it’s just not worth the worry in the first place.  Which brings me to the KISS Principle.

~  Above all follow the KISS principle:  Keep It Simple Stupid.  You have enough to think about and fret over in a day; don’t make laundry part of it.

In my next post I’ll tell you how my kids do their own laundry with only a tiny bit of help from me.  Yes, my four year old does his own laundry!