How Hard Is it to Put Clothes in the Hamper?
By ladym33
@ladym33 (10979)
United States
January 12, 2012 11:56am CST
We have two hampers upstairs and I have three kids and a husband. My husband is not too bad about picking up his laundry and putting them in the hamper, but he often leaves his socks on the couch in the family room and sometimes will take off his shirt before bed and leave it on the floor. I am still usually with my youngest helping him get ready when he changes so usually his clothes get to the hamper right away but my two teenagers are awful. When I go to do the laundry it takes me about a half hour to get all of the dirty clothes off the floor in their rooms. I don't think I should have to do this. After all I was and hang or fold all of their clothes why is it so hard for them to walk a few feet and put them in one of the hampers? They do at least carry up their clothes and put them away, but usually they don't do a great job at that. I have complained and yelled till I am blue in the face. I also refused to wash their clothes for a couple of weeks over the summer but that didn't even work. I even told them all would pay them each $2.00 a week just to do what they should be doing anyways and putting their clothes in the hamper. They told me that wasn't much money. How do I get these kids to save me a little time by carrying their clothes to the hamper?
3 people like this
6 responses
@roadrunner77 (173)
•
12 Jan 12
Your two teenagers need a wake up call. You say that you refused to wash their clothes for a couple of weeks over summer but this didn't work. You need to revisit this ground.
Call them both together and tell them in no uncertain terms that unless they put their dirty clothes in the hamper you will not wash them. Then stand your ground and do not surrender - this is most important. Your two teenagers need to be very clear about this. Then just wait and, if necessary, watch the dirty clothing pile up. But do nothing about it yourself. They should get the message eventually.
1 person likes this
@ladym33 (10979)
• United States
12 Jan 12
Especially during the school year, they will be really upset when they don't have any clothes to wear to school. I don't know if I will be able to tolerate all the clothes piling up though or looking at their rooms so messy. You are right though I need to do something drastic.
@roadrunner77 (173)
•
12 Jan 12
I,m afraid it really is the only way. Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind. They will thank you for it ultimately.
@roberten (3128)
• United States
20 Jan 12
Well, ladym33, teenagers have a behave just as you've described. What I did was stop doing their clothes after I taught them to do their own. I required them to keep the doors to their rooms closed so I didn't have to look at their mess. When they got older (mentally) they began to be unable to stay in their own mess. Life has a way of working itself out. If you make yourself a maid for your kids, they'll treat you like one. Hope you find a workable solution for you and your family, good luck.
@Tresaqwe (376)
• United States
12 Jan 12
Sounds like normal typical teen activity to me. I never picked up my clothes when I was young either and my mom was yelling at me all the time. I guess you probably do have to do something drastic like not wash their clothes any more to get them to appreciate what you do for them. A couple weeks of making them wash their own should do the trick.
@hmkoct5 (2065)
• United States
16 Jan 12
If it were me, I would take away what they most, their electronics. I've done this to my sons before and it works extremely well. If they don't do their chores on the given day, they lose electronics for the rest of the day. It's amazing how that little threat of losing their electronic privileges gets them to remember things they otherwise forget.
@lologirl2021 (5542)
• United States
12 Jan 12
So 2.00 may not seem like nothing but if they new that each week was 2.00 and at the end of the year they would have over 100 dollars they might see the light. Sometimes in kids life you have to tell them and tell them to look beyond the 2.00 a week and what they will have by the end of the year.
Well if they dont like that idea i would move forward and not pick up anymore kids laundry on the floor and the only laundry you do is the laundry in the hamper, thats it plain and simple and dont give in at all and when they run out of laundry to wear because they havent been putting laundry inthe hamper then its there fault and tell them you have been doing the laundry in the hamper and there were none of yours so i guess you dont have any clothes to wear now, not my problem and my rules are my rules and if you cant obey me then you take the consequences that comes with this chore. They have to learn at sometime and if there teenagers its a good time to learn.
When i was 14 i started doing everyones laundry and started doing alot around my house to help and when i turned 15 i had a job as well.
@bounce58 (17387)
• Canada
12 Jan 12
If you find the answer let me know!
My kids are 11 and 5. They have trouble bringing their clothes to the hamper too. Most of the time, it would be in the bathroom, as they would just leave it before taking baths.
They also have the habit of taking their socks off, and just leaving it wherever they were at that time. I would often find socks at the corners in the couch along with the TV remote!
My kids are 11 and 5. They have trouble bringing their clothes to the hamper too. Most of the time, it would be in the bathroom, as they would just leave it before taking baths.
They also have the habit of taking their socks off, and just leaving it wherever they were at that time. I would often find socks at the corners in the couch along with the TV remote!