At what age should a child start ironing?

[Boogers]

H and I had a big argument last night about the things that DS(12) can and can't do. I said DS should be learning how to iron by now, to which H strongly disagreed.

I remember ironing my dad's hankerchiefs when I was about 7 or 8, and when I was about 12 or 13 I was ironing my school uniform on a Sunday evening (in autumn it was 5 shirts, 3 box pleated skirts, 1 blazer, in summer it was 5 dresses and 1 blazer).

DS had no issues with co-ordination or ability to sense hot and cold, there is no reason why he can't learn to use an iron. H says that he and his brother never ironed when they were younger (his brother is 40 and has never ironed in his life; his parents, my in-laws, do it all for him).

Who is being unreasonable here, me or H? Should I encourage DS to learn how to iron?

espesso - "making a typo is shallow" ? You are making things up now. I didn't say that.

You did however say this:

"And there has no been any comments about character and respectability from me - where have you got that from ?
I would judge any parent
I just think it's a bit lazy
I consider it lazy not to run an iron over
I am entitled to think it's lazy
slovenly one"

:)

Being lazy is no reflection on someone's character or respectability in my opinion. I would not dislike someone for it or consider them lacking in moral fibre - maybe you have a different perspective ?

Bloody hell a biscuit - you have definitely lost all perspective - we're talking about fecking ironing :)

Backs away slowly............

Not rtft.

We rarely iron (non iron school uniform available here and I'm currently not working so in casual clothes).

BUT there are some clothes that look much better with ironing and some situations that require ironed clothes.

" Ironing is hardly rocket science." No but here is a right and wrong way, trust me anyone in the forces or professional clothing care will tell you that. I'm a military brat and was taught to iron/press properly and I've done so professionally.

Dd aged 15 can virtually run the house! Certainly at 12 could keep the place clean and tidy (Hoover, dust, dishes, clean kitchen, mop floor, clean loo, make a simple meal from scratch, make a cup of tea - lousy coffee maker though , do a basic laundry load) now she's learning more complicated meals, can bake without supervision, can deal with laundry stains and remembers to use whitener, keeps on top of her own laundry, cleans the bathroom, let's me know what shopping she needs (planning ahead, I mean like school stuff etc that I don't know when she's running low).

Hasn't mastered replacing the loo or kitchen rolls yet though

*there is a right and a wrong way

Why is it a competition ? 😁

Me too :)

I never learned to iron till I had dc. Hubby was the ironer in the family. Now it's all down to me. Was thinking the same with my dc. They are old enough i think at 14 and 13!
Now that I'm pregnant again might delegate it to them - mind their own stuff though.

Nothing warms my feminist heart more than reading women slinging insults at other women over bloody ironing.

ffs.

Surely, having the choice over what each woman fights about is what feminism is about.

And you may be happy posting spelling errors without checking, but you can't be bothered to.

No, just a simple mistake. Us mere mortals do make mistakes sometimes.

I mean, surely no-one judges character and respectability (or anything else) by whether or not clothes are ironed?

So if we're in a three hour meeting with clients and the men have their jackets off, you can't tell me that no one in that room would notice one of our employees in a badly rumpled shirt? It may not matter to you, but it does matter to others.

It is not the clothes that are important, it is what in them that counts.

whattheseithakasmean
You should be posting that in the Kate Windsor threads.

All these people who don't iron - would you go to a funeral in a crumpled shirt?

So if we're in a three hour meeting with clients and the men have their jackets off, you can't tell me that no one in that room would notice one of our employees in a badly rumpled shirt? It may not matter to you, but it does matter to others.

Nobody is saying that badly rumpled clothes are okay. They are saying that you don't need to iron if you don't want to..Most people who don't iron don't have badly rumpled work clothes. That is the whole point! People who don't iron choose things that don't crease easily and then they know how to dry them so that they don't crease- I skill you no doubt lack.

All these people who don't iron - would you go to a funeral in a crumpled shirt?

of course not. I would chose clothes that don't need ironing. I don't own many clothes that need ironing at all, basically mostly jersy shirts.
washing gets hanged up carefully and folded smoothly once dried.

Not bothered one way or the other whether people iron but some posters in the different camps seems to really hate the posters with the opposite opinion.

I get the feeling that the non ironers see ironing as an old fashioned wifely skill that, as modern people, they will have no truck with.

Does the same apply to teaching your DC to sew on a button or repair a hem?

Surely there are some things in life that it's just handy to know how to do.

I get the feeling that the non ironers see ironing as an old fashioned wifely skill that, as modern people, they will have no truck with.

I don't see ironing as a skill full stop. Therefore it doesn't have to be taught. It is hardly rocket science.