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.
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). Each kid kept his laundry basket in his room-- one needed two-- one for cleans and one for dirty, as he never got around to putting things in the closet, but it was his room, so not my problem.
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! So I got 4 of those pop-up/collapsable baskets. I put those in the bathroom where we take our showers and change clothes, and the roll away is in a corner of the laundry room out of the way. Now when it's time to wash a certain load, I just go in the bathroom and bring it to the laundry room and dump it into the rollaway. Then I can return the basket to the bathroom and I don't have piles on the floor anymore.
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. I never took it to their rooms so if they didn't have clean clothes in the drawer they knew where to look.
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. This way they learned how to write checks, along with budgeting & how much it actually takes to live & that money doesn't grow on trees!
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!)
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