Can your teen/s put on a wash?

[Babykoala1]

Watching the One Show last night and there was a lad who had just started university and his parents had created videos to show him how to put on a wash, change bed sheets etc.

Apparently this was the first time he'd ever put on a wash sure, the videos may be cute or whatever but surely by the time they've reached university age you'd surely have been taught how to put on a wash?! And why not show him in the years leading up to it? Is this the norm now?! I didn't go to university though so maybe I spent too much time washing clothes and not studying but it just seems a bit bizarre to me to not teach your kids basic life skills!

Yes and has to do her own clothes washing, we both work full time

We had to do all our laundry by hand in huge stone sinks when I was a student. We survived. Washing machines are a luxury, not an essential.

All of them could around 8 years old. They ironed their own uniforms start of secondary.
As teens they could cook and prepare family meals, clean, laundry, simple DIY, gardening, why shouldn't they know how to do it?

My son is 2. If he reaches the age of 18 unable to perform basic household tasks, me and my husband will have completely failed as parents. It’s actively cruel and neglectful to not teach a child these basic life skills.

Of course. My DD has just gone off to university and has been doing her washing for years. Her best friend went to university having never used a washing machine though. I was shocked.

Yes they can. It only took a minute to show them though so not really a big thing if they didn't know as it not exactly difficult to learn at any age. I don't make my kids do housework really though. They keep their rooms tidy and make their bed. They both know how to do other things but we prefer to do it ourselves. I am sure they both have years of housework ahead of them. They will help if we ask though obviously.

Yes my DD (19) has been able to use the washing machine, iron dust clean for a few years, I'll have failed her if I didn't teach her basic household skills

Yes, my daughter started doing her own laundry at 14. Washing, putting away and ironing.

She can't bloody cook though.🤣

My ds could do a washing before he went off to Uni (he was 17 when he started last month) but didn't do so often.

He learnt because I had a rule that if he hadn't brought down his washing by 12 noon on a Saturday, I wouldn't guarantee that it would be washed and ironed ready for school on Monday. So if he forgot to being it down (and I deliberately never nagged reminded him), he had to do it himself.

He'd also learnt to do his ironing - although again didn't do it that often.

He seems to be coping ok at Uni though - has already washed his bedlinen at least once (he worried that his "white" bed sheet had gone off white - but I reassured him that I'd only sent him with a grey and a beige sheet bottom sheet He's done at least 2 washes in 4 weeks - and although he came down this weekend, only brought down a few white things for me to wash (as he didn't want to "risk" them with his coloured things), one t-shirt with a stain that he wanted me to sort and another new t-shirt with a transfer on that he wanted washed in our washing machine the first time.

I went to University having never used a washing machine. It took me about one minute to learn. Sheets and towels at 60 degrees (add in white cotton underwear if you want), everything else except wool and silk at 40 degrees, wool and silk on a gentle wash at 30. I can write that on a post it note for my dc if they need it.

What I could do was shop and cook and this is what I am concentrating on with my own children.

Yes, my 13 year old DS can. He washes his own bedding and changes his bed. He will happily put a load of washing on in order to have clean clothes.

Like most teens, I think, he has a tendency to wear an outfit once for a couple of hours, then put it in the laundry basket. If this doesn't fit with my very vague 'system' then he'll do his own.

Dds are 12 and 14 and have been doing their own washing for about 2 years.
I do remind them every few days to put a wash on but they equally as often just get on and do it without a reminder.
I echo a pp in that it’s your job as a parent to teach your children how to do the basics in life.
Of course they can learn as they go along as many people have to but I consider it a parenting responsibility!

Several of my friends couldn’t as they were from boarding schools. It took them about 2 minutes to figure it out and this was pre internet...

I wonder if anyone will admit that their teens can't? thanks to all who have replied and I'm glad to see you are teaching your kids essential life skills. It still baffles me how people can reach that age and not know how to use on an oven or change a duvet cover surely most of the educational stuff is taught at school so what actually are you teaching children at home?!

I was able to (and my kids will be able to) do any and every household chore before they turn 13. Clean, cook, tidy, wash, iron, hang up, change, replace, fix or reposition.

Not that they will have to do all of the above every day, but they will certainly know how to if I ask them.

I really don't think children need to be taught how to put a duvet into a cover any more than putting a pillow into a pillowcase. Give them some credit.

Some ovens are very complicated, I can work ours but DB's new one is baffling.

DS1 did need some help and advice taking out insurance for his gadgets and applying for the right bus pass though.

My 10yo and 7yo can put on a wash. I often give them the choice of rounding up the laundry and deciding which wash to do next or unloading the dishwasher. They usually go for laundry, for some reason.

surely most of the educational stuff is taught at school so what actually are you teaching children at home?!

That sounds a bit judgemental. Maybe some parents don't just leave all the educating to school so they help their children with their learning at home which can take up time. They may see this as more important than learning household tasks. Everyone's different.

Older step son (now 15) has been able to do it for years but only his bedding. He wets the bed and has been putting his bedding in the wash in the morning (or whenever he gets up) for I don’t know how long. Since 11/12? 🤔 He puts it on with detergent and softener etc but then that’s it. DH or I have to take it out and dry it and then put it on the bed...

Otherwise he doesn’t really do anything and younger step son (nearly 14) does not put on a wash as far as I’m aware but they can both do basic cooking as DH has taught them.

Tbf I have an 8 yr old with SN and I doubt very much that he will be doing his own washing at 14... so it's dependent on the child's abilities. But an NT teenager should be able to with no problem. It's less complex than an Xbox

Having said that, dh still can't put a pillowcase on properly - he never puts the gusset flap around the pillow properly, so the pillow always works its way out of the case

and I can't tell him because that would be telling him what to do

@BigGreenOlives My DS was in Unite Student Halls last year and he says the laundry facilities were dreadful. And a rip-off.

They all seem to be very expensive. DS1's is Circuit Laundry I think. The machines are quite large capacity though.

TheThird presumably they did - he went to several different laundrettes at the weekend and then to the accommodation office to ask what was going on - the maintenance guy was supposed to come yesterday to fix things.

@IdahoCrow He is in normal uni halls at his campus university, I suggested he catch a bus into town & research laundrettes at the weekend when the problem first arose. He said he'd wash things in the sink in his room. The big problem is his lack of interest in clothes which has led to him having a very limited wardrobe. He was only going to take one pair of trousers (no shorts) with him which would have made laundry incredibly difficult. I made him put in his school tracksuit bottoms, he only has one pair of trousers that fits. As he is an adult with funds I have let him discover for himself that more than a week's clothes is a good idea.