Teens doing laundry?

[poiuy]

Does anyone agree with this? Get the sense that I do too much and need to prepare my three for independent living. Or should mums do it?

DD has been arsey too many times about whether or not I have washed a certain item in the past so I refuse to do it for her any more. She has to take care of her own dark wash and bedding, but I will ask her if she has any jeans or white items as she can't make up a load of those herself, but she needs to fetch them for me. She is almost out of her teenage years though and off to uni in the autumn.

DS - he's 14 and I do his with ours, but he will hang it out if he's around, and I have shown him how to use the machine once so far.

Part of my refusal to do all of DD's with ours is the fact that she doesn't help out with any chores when I ask her. So she gets to do it herself.

Have just realised I didn't actually answer your question! I work from home so for me it is easier and makes more sense for me to do it in between whatever I'm doing. Not because I'm the mum. I'm happy to do DS's as he's happy to help out with any chores I ask him to do (which isn't much, to be honest, and he might grumble, but he does at least do them), so it's teaching them that I help them out, and they help me out too.

But I'd say that somewhere around mid teens (ish) they learn how to do it properly, and get the odd bit of practice so they are competent when they leave home.

We don't divide the wash, but there is no reason a teen can't put on a full family wash just as well as anybody else. What I absolutely will not do is allow waste of water and electricity by running machines that aren't full.

Aren't most machines fuzzy logic these days so don't waste water?

Is that not really wasteful. Surely if you are doing a whites, you get everyone's and if you are doing a dark, you do everyone's.

It is more economical to run full loads than use the half wash load setting. It saves more in water and electricity too overall, s better for the environment.

Well yes,I would but I was just pointing out that my ancient machine only uses the amount of water needed for the number of items put in. I'm sure most machine are like that now,mine's 18 years old.

Fair point about electricity but again I doubt it's a huge amount.

Mine started to use the washing machine regularly from about 11. They are responsible for changing their beds and washing all their clothes. While sorting clothes into whites and coloured, they are expected to look for other family items that would go in the wash. We have a family washing basket.

OP O don't understand why the options are teens or mum's? Dad does laundry too.

But to respond generally, I think of they need something washed then they fill a load including that item. If they are asked to do a chore then laundry could be that chore.

Whenever these discussions come up people always use the excuse that doing separate loads is wasteful as though we are all doing washing every day with just a few items in. We don't. We each do a full load a week. None of us wear white shirts so the few whites there are just go on with a towel or sheet wash. How is that wasteful??

We do washing as colours, so taught DS how to wash all our clothes because he never has enough of each to make up a load. He is going to cook for us now because he is off to uni. in September, he can cook some things just need to hone his skills.

What Seeline said in the first response.
I've never understood why people who live in the same house would do separate washes. It makes no sense at all.
I showed mine before they went off to University and they have survived. I mean, over the years they've taken stuff out of the machine and hung it out or put it in the tumble drier, but I can not see the point of them doing separate washed for themselves.

Cooking, OTOH, is an excellent thing for them to have to do, once a week or so.

Mine do their own. They wait until they have run out of clothes a full load.