Laundry goes much quicker if the clothes are not inside out! Are you feeling me here? I’ve been trying to teach my 8 year old son this concept. He puts his laundry in the wash so no big deal to him. However, I am the one who takes all the clothes out to fold and hang.
This is how my son’s jeans usually look when he takes them off. I have shown him how to take them off so they won’t turn inside out but he’s 8 and he could really care less.
I’ve tried to find ways to make him more aware that he is doing it. I think he is just too busy to worry about it and he has always taken his pants off the same way so it’s hard to break the habit. Hubby said I should give the clothes back the way I got them, but my little OCD self cannot possibly leave the clothes inside out. Not an option!
So, after thinking it over a bit, I ultimately came up with the 5 cent penalty on laundry. Essentially for every item of clothing I pull out of the laundry that is inside out he owes me 5 cents. He is starting to understand money a little better so I thought this might just be the trick.
I am happy to announce that after two weeks of trying this, only 10 cents has gone to the savings jar! He absolutely hated the idea of giving me money. I told him it is to make him aware, not so much that I actually wanted his money. Now when he dutifully brings his laundry to the wash he turns them the right side out. I noticed this last time though, he had already right side out before he even put them in the hamper.
Would love to hear your opinion on this. It definitely works for me! Do you have the same issues at home and how do you handle it? Do your kids help with the laundry or do you do it all yourself? Is a 5 cent penalty to harsh or do you think you might try it?
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
My financial rule always was that if I found the money in pockets (or in the washer or dryer, unfortuneately!), I got to keep it. I might relent if it was paper money for whom the owner was known, but change? Mine! And I spent it on well-deserved lattes!
With the inside-out thing? After years of doing what Tanna did, I finally adopted a different approach: if it came to me inside out, it got washed, dried, and folded or hung inside out! I figured that at one point or another they would have to turn it right-side our, dirty or clean!
My only dilemna? Pants with one leg inside out? I turned them completely inside out …. hey, by then I’d been living with teenagers for years and I was crazy!
Makes me laugh to remember this (though the youngest, now 19, only started doing his own laundry 2 months ago!)
I love the 5 cent penalty. My girls are still young (5 & 2). But, they do help put their laundry away once it is folded.
I love your 5 cent idea. I don’t have any kids, but does a husband count? I’ve tried having him do his own laundry, but if he kept doing things his way we’d be replacing our washer every 3 or 4 months. LOL I’ll keep this in mind one day when I have children.
I love the 5cent rule!! I have one boy who is particularly bad about this. My kids all started doing their own laundry when they were 7, and now that my oldest is 11 he washes, dries, and puts his own stuff away, but I still have to switch his laundry from one machine to the other, or put it out to be put away – this just might work with my money-minded man!
I think the concept of a financial penalty might work for other laundry infractions too – maybe a penny per piece of clothing on the floor instead of the hamper? Or, for my kids who do their own laundry, a dime for each load left in a machine overnight. Hmmm…Thanks for this idea!
My Mrs. has a solution for all those goodies in the pockets too. Check out the July 22, 2008 post on overzealous house wife.
Good one! I might have to use this! I need to add another part, it needs to make it to the laundry basket first.
My favorite thing is the balled up socks. And they are returned in the same manner in which they are received.
I like the 5 cent rule. But I do not think it would work on my husband. The child is fine. LOL
I hear ya on this one Tanna! My personal favorite is not only are the pants inside out, but you can find all sorts of goodies within their pants.. socks, underwear and an occasional hankie in the pocket… Sometimes I spend more time sorting then doing laundry… I do like the 5 cent rule… I might have to ponder that for a while…