Toddlers Versus Teenagers: Laundry

We've covered my laundry system before. Yes, I know teenagers can do their own laundry. For environmental and economic reasons (saves water and money) I do all the laundry for my family.

Toddlers: You'll do lots of laundry because they're always spilling something on themselves or rolling in mud or because they're going through a change clothes 7 times a day face.

Teenagers: You'll do lots of laundry because they (by this I mean the girls) feel the need to wear one outfit before school, one at school, one after school . . . you get the picture. Plus, if your kids play sports there's the whole uniform thing (I wash and line dry a cheerleading uniform twice a week; Speedos don't take as much work).

Toddlers: This one is girl-specific (at least in my house). You will probably have at least one all-pink load per week.

Teenagers: This one is boy-specific (at least in my house). You will have at least one load per week that is made up entirely of black hoodies.

There's definitely no clear winner here. It's all a lot of laundry. Interminable, never-ending, the job you can never, ever finish--laundry.

Comments

[Suzy]

I want to see pics of the all pink load. I hate laundry and it does not fare well under my care. This is why I have 200 pair of underwear and 8 sets of sheets and 6 sets of towels. ANYTHING to avoid it.

[Susan]

I'm with you - I know they could do it themselves, but then there would always be something wet in the wash and wrinkled up sitting in the dryer. I just go for it and get it done in one day.

[Manic Mommy]

The actual 'doing the laundry' part, I don't mind. I even take pride in my sorting skills. It's the never-ending, interminable, pain in the ass folding that I can not stand.

I envy your laundry system. I just don't have the energy to emulate it.

[suburbancorrespondent]

I love Suzy's comment.

3 loads a day here...but I have a front-loader, which uses way less water (and I only use cold water).

[Jen on the Edge]

I'm with Manic Mommy, I hate the folding afterward.

[Suz]

Great post Jenn. Laundry is a fact of life...if we wear clothes anyway. The nudist option is not pretty. ;)
I do at least 2 a day. And there is only 4 of us...but the uniforms do me in some days...if she/he has back to back games and they need to wear the same home/away uniform.....they don't get home till 10 pm and it has to be washed/dried by 6 am. uggghhh.
I try not to complain too much though...I love my appliances. :0

[Julie]

My teenager's room always looks like the closet threw up. I wash MOST of the clothes otherwise everything ends up being an icky shade of gray.

[imom]

The best thing we did was move causing us to have to buy a new washer and dryer. The kids got way into it and do their own laundry! One day when my daughter was young I went in her room to collect laundry. There were clothes all over her floor and I couldn't figure out which were dirty and which were clean. She plainly said to me "the ones on the floor are clean, the ones on my dresser are dirty." I'm so glad she does her own laundry now!

[Fannie]

I'm with all who said THE FOLDING SUCKETH MIGHTILY.

[Smalltown Mom]

With two male teens I wash a heck of a lot of black.

[Shelia]

It's kind of like teaching. There's always more to do! The folding and putting away is like the grading. It's a royal pain in the ass!

[Blognut]

I not only do the hoodie load FOR MY 9 YR OLD SON, I also have to do the muddy load and the soccer practice/game load. Between him and my two teenage daughters, I could keep 5 washing machines running 24x7 I think.

[jenrantsraves]

I am laundry challenged, I swear! I get it to the dryer, but there it sits! What the heck is wrong with me? Laundry sucks, but I'd choose that over grocery shopping ANY day.

[mandy]

Laundry is the bane of my existence.

That is all.

[green girl]

It is a painful cycle--lather rinse repeat. And the bigger they are, the more space their clothes take up in each load so you do more loads as they grow.

[kcinnova]

7 loads in the past 24 hours (I needed to catch up after a day+ off from laundry): my bedding, whites, lights, darks, reds & blacks, jeans, and my dh's uniforms. Oy!!
It's better when summer comes and we have fewer hoodies and long jeans, but then things are dirtier from the youngest who plays in the creek and there are plenty of swimsuits and towels.

And it's sorting the SOCKS that drives me crazy. (My rule? Everyone has a different kind of sock, so it isn't so hard to tell who gets which ones.) And apparently? I am the only one who sees holes in the socks.
Sheesh!

[Johannarupp@yahoo.com]

I have come to the conclusion that laundry is truly one of the only constants in life. I often think of the old saying "wash on Monday, Iron on Tuesday..." and think, "once a week! Are you kidding me!" I do it daily.

[MJ]

I've always said the only way to finish the laundry is to have every one standing naked by the dryer.

Not going to happen in my house.

My mom always threatened to join a nudist colony. On the plus side, she's too shy to follow through!

[phd in yogurtry]

I hear ya with the hoodies. Makes me (almost) long for the days of a dryer full of teeny, tiny sleepers.

[JCK]

And I was SO hoping the story was going in the other direction. Less laundry...

[Shelley]

It's like the Lambchop "Song that never ends...", only it's the chore that never ends. I don't even mind the folding, but it's the putting-away that I despise. I'm washing a lot of dirt-filled softball uniforms right now. For the love of all that is good and holy, can someone please tell me WHY my kids insist on putting long, dirty softball socks in the hamper INSIDE-OUT? So you have to stick your arm in it and pull it out the other way, and then there is dirt all over your arm and everywhere else? Why?