When taking dry clothes off the washing line have a basket for each person (either with their name written on the wash basket or a different colour). When you take the baskets in, each person is responsible for putting their clothes away. My two boys have done this since they were 6 years old. I still have their drawers labeled so not only they can put their things away but if I get someone in to help me they can do it easily too.
By Barbara from NSW, Australia
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YES! I just love your idea! My kids also each had their OWN color of bath towel. No dropping them on the floor after using & their own set of dishes (all the same but a different color for each child & they were responsible for washing them after each use (a mug, a bowl & a med sized plate). This isn't just helpful to mom, it also teaches responsibility!
We also had a Saturday rotating chore chart for the 3 oldest kids (vacuum, mop, dust, etc) & when a child turned 14 years old I'd sit down with them & have THEM write out the checks & pay the household bills each month for a year.
They also got paid 2 cents a page to read a book & we only allowed 5 hours of TV each week (& got paid 50 cents for each half hour they didn't use) & we didn't have cable! (but we rented a lot of movies as a family & they were never bored!)
I used to do something like this when we had 5 little ones at home. I'd fold the clothes on my bed and they could come in through the day and get their basket.
Since there's only my husband and I here, and he's gone 3 weeks at a time, this wouldn't be practical for us. BUT! I did alter it a little. I use one basket for each type load----whites, lights, darks, colors, sheets/towels.
Also I have one of those 3 basket rolling things. I used to roll it back and forth from our bathroom at the opposite end of the house to the laundry room. But it never failed, it was always in the wrong end of the house when we took off our dirty clothes!
I love these hints that teach children responsibility and independence. My sons did their own laundry for most clothes, and we shared responsibility for whites and jeans (as no one person had enough for a full load).
To weedytj -- lighten up and back off!
To talkingbookworm -- ingenius idea -- Kudos to you for thinking of it or finding the idea. Kudos means "Good Job" in case you aren't familiar with American slang. : )
A wonderful idea! Kids need to learn what it takes to get those clothes back in the drawer and on the hangers in the closet! You get a thumbs up from me!
My granddaughter loves to help fold towels and washclothes. I started to roll them for the drawer, which then she (3) could do, too.
For my own kids, we figured weekly chores and they rotated weeks. They could trade items on their own, collect fees from their siblings to do extra chores. The youngest did the best on the money end, always willing to get paid by his brothers to do the dishes, laundry to the lines, scrubbing toilets, etc. They could also cook/bake up a storm the same way, assigned chores.
By the way, I did not do allowances, they got the comforts of home, computers, etc. For extra like movies, other things, they went to the neighbors looking for odd jobs to do what they wanted, babysitting, mowing lawns, weeding gardens. They learned to do community charity time for many things. They hired themselves out as strawberry pickers. They learned so well they got paid by the bucket rather than the hour. Where at 8-9 could you work 3 hours every morning, eat all you wanted and make a good wage for the day.
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