AIBU to ask children to empty their pockets??

[MacarenaFerreiro]

Washing machine half way through cycle. Something rattling around in drum making one hell of a racket. Based on previous experience, likely to be a 2p piece, a little stub of pencil too small to write with, Lego, a small padlock, a metal car or a pin bage.

Tips for making sure the fuckers empty their pockets before slinging everything in the machine???

Well it depends on how old they are but yes obviously.

We put our washing in the washing basket and whoever is putting the wash on checks pockets. But my dcs are 5&7.

You can try. I tell my dc and dh to, but they don't.

It's taken me 8 years to get dh to do it nevermind the children...

DH is just as bad but with paper - things folded and put in his shirt pocket usually. Makes a right squidgy mess all over everything in the wash.

My dh does that with paper in his shirt pocket.
I just leave it in there for him to find, all crusty and falling apart.
My brother broke a washing machine once as he put his work shorts in and the pockets contained a roll of tape, lots of change and a small screwdriver.

There was a post on pinterest where a mother kept everything that she tipped put of her sons pockets and, I think, stuck them into a glass lamp base and gave him the lamp for a significant birthday, with random coins, toy cars and plastic tat in it.

I'd just change the policy to - if I find your clothes have items in the pockets, you have to peg it out, and see ow quickly they remember to check.

I usually check pockets before filling the machine.. sometimes forget and find DHs lead weight things for fishing banging around in the drum.

FFS, OP! Posters get their knickers in a twist when people call children brats on Mumsnet, you know they'll be apocalyptic with rage when they read fuckers. 😮😄 Bty, if you ever find out how to stop the wee fuckers darlings, please let me know. 😁

You can certainly try but I have told DP approx. 5000 times to empty his work trousers (he is a plumber) before putting them in the washing basket but still every time there is a screwdriver/nut/bolt/fitting/timesheet/credit card found in the washing machine at the end of the wash.
I would check myself but they have about 700 pockets and I can't be arsed. Probably why my washing machine breaks at least once a month

If you do find the secret to getting dcs AND dhs to do this please share as I haven't managed it yet...

Pombliboo! My husband is a plumber and does the same. So annoying

Easier to check all pockets myself.
I have even been known to leave a tissue in my pocket thinking they were empty.
I check all pockets.

@fishonabicyle

Yes!!!! And then it's my fault that his company credit card is melted or his timesheet is smoosh!!!!!!!

So glad I'm not the only one who calls my kids wee fuckers on occasion (unclench people - not in earshot!!)
Sorry, I have no wisdom, just wanted to bask in the company of similarly foul mouthed like minded parents

I refuse to delve in dh's pockets. They sit there waiting until he empties them.

When you open the door of your washer and peer inside,what do you see? A nice big silver drum with lots of holes in it? Now then, if anything small enough to get through those holes manages to get in there and indeed does pass through a hole into the outer drum well you can kiss your washer good bye or at least face a huge and possibly uneconomic repair bill. Favourites for this a bitf of wire from bras and corsetry etc

Would DH like a big fat bill for that and would DCs like to give stuff up to supplement the cost of a new washer?

My FIL can't be trusted in his 60s not to put at least one tissue in every wash. I presume lovely late DMIL emptied his pockets for 40 years. For his rank, used tissues. not envy.

Dp is 30 and he's completely untrained. He doesn't even bother putting dirty cloths in the basket. Just drops them in the vicinity. I regularly wash his bank cards, receipts, and random crap from work. I also wash his lighters on a regular basis.
Hoping to train the baby from a young age.

Dh has emptied his own pockets, and done most of the laundry, himself ever since I washed his phone. It didn't survive the wash, unsurprisingly. I'm just glad it was a cheapie, and I had a spare handset I could give him to replace it.

I think some people are better at understanding consequences than others...

DS has always cheerfully emptied his pockets since age 5; DH, however, is always leaving things in his pockets - and worse, has trousers with multiple pockets all over the show that are easy to miss finding things in. I confess I have therefore washed DH's phone twice