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Common sense… not so common

Hastings's picture

Submitted by Hastings on Mon, 09/04/2023 - 8:36pm

I know kids can be clueless and space cadets at times. But, sometimes, I'm just dumbfounded.

SS12's laundry has been an issue for quite a while. He'll bring down his laundry basket half-full of clean clothes. DH gets onto him. SS responds with a shrug and "why does it matter? Stuff's getting washed anyway." Well, if we have to do multiple loads, that's a waste of water, time and electricity.

Anyway, today, we discovered he didn't put his clean clothes away last time and just dumped dirty clothes on top. That's probably why the same clothes reappear in his laundry without being worn.

Seriously. How moronic can you get?

I would tell DH we need to make him just handle his own laundry but I feel certain he would destroy the washing machine somehow with his complete lack of common sense. It would help if DH would make SS put his clean clothes away right away instead of just "whenever," but I'm not getting into that one.

Comments

strugglingSM's picture

Submitted by strugglingSM on Tue, 09/05/2023 - 12:36am

One of my SS's...not sure which one...left his sneakers at the vacation home we stayed at for DH's birthday, almost two months ago. They have both been told that we brought the sneakers home with us and both have been at our home multiple times since then, but the sneakers still sit where we put them when we brought them home. You'd think they might miss them, but apparently not. 

And yes, do not let your SS near that washing machine. One of my SSs broke our washing machine...not sure how and fortunately, the repair was covered by warranty. I also went in to the laundry room once and there was a load running with a single sock, nothing else, just one sock. 

dragonfly878's picture

Submitted by dragonfly878 on Tue, 09/05/2023 - 4:13am

Dump the clothes on his bed and keep his hamper in a public space. Lazy ass probably doesn't want to fold. Take away his option not to.

Aniki-Moderator's picture

Submitted by Aniki-Moderator on Tue, 09/05/2023 - 7:36am

^Agreed. Dump the clean clothes on his bed. He can fold and put away or wear them wrinkled.

Hastings's picture

Submitted by Hastings on Tue, 09/05/2023 - 7:42am

For a while, DH was giving him his clean clothes in small stacks, which he had to retrieve and put away one at a time. Not sure why he stopped.

Given the state of his bed, I doubt that would do much good to dump them. We don't make him make it up and it's usually just a pile of pillows and bedding.

ESMOD's picture

Submitted by ESMOD on Tue, 09/05/2023 - 7:44am

as the wife of a man that seems to have a permanent blind spot to his piles of clean folded clothing.. get him on the habit of putting things away now.  I do 95% of the laundry.. sort and fold it.  I wish I could stop looking at the piles on the living room table... his only haha.

I could put them on his side of the bed.. but he would just move them to the floor.. arrrggg.

Cover1W's picture

Submitted by Cover1W on Tue, 09/05/2023 - 8:55am

I put DHs clean laundry on his office chair or his side of the bed if it's been left in the laundry room, clean and folded, for a week. He's got one week then it's out of my way.

YSD has done her own laundry since she was 10. DH only had to talk to her once about running too small a load. She's got very few clothes here, never wants more, so has to wash things. I'm waiting to see what happens when she runs out of leggings (it's all she'll wear, holes and all).

OSD never did her own laundry. Ever.

thinkthrice's picture

Submitted by thinkthrice on Tue, 09/05/2023 - 11:03am

Chef expects me to do all laundry including folding, putting away and picking up his soiled clothing.  He really is spoiled beyond belief.  Then he has the nerve to ask why I don't get this or that pet project finished in time to his liking. 

I doubt the Girhippo, although SAH did this for him.  

Cover1W's picture

Submitted by Cover1W on Tue, 09/05/2023 - 3:31pm

My DH doesn't at all expect me to do it. I do it when I can tell he's overwhelmed, and I don't mind doing laundry at all (the easiest job in the house!) UNLESS someone is a PITA about it, like OSD was. No way in heck was I touching hers.

Sadielady's picture

Submitted by Sadielady on Tue, 09/05/2023 - 8:09am

My own DD does this as well and it drives me crazy! I refuse to fight about it and I'm also very territorial over the laundry. So we have hampers for dirty and baskets for clean. And I have a LOT of baskets. If she doesn't want to put her clean clothes away for weeks at a time, she doesn't have to. As long as the baskets are in her room and not in the common space. She puts her dirty clothes in the hampers (which I also have extra of!). Some things just aren't worth fighting.

Winterglow's picture

Submitted by Winterglow on Tue, 09/05/2023 - 8:32am

This is something I really don't worry about. When DH retired he took over the laundry. It's an ongoing learning experience and there are still things to learn ( there was an unfortunate incident with one daughter's linen clothes recently.. ). However, I don't worry about anyone else's laundry any more. The hampers are in the bathrooms so if you want clean clothes, you put the dirty clothes in the hampers. He dries,folds and delivers the clean clothes onto their respective owners' beds. There's no possible confusion of clean and dirty.

It's their problem what they do with their clothes after that . Not my problem.

Hastings's picture

Submitted by Hastings on Tue, 09/05/2023 - 8:53am

Yeah, not a battle I want to fight. We're just getting tired of washing the same clean clothes over and over -- wasting water and energy.

Winterglow's picture

Submitted by Winterglow on Tue, 09/05/2023 - 9:13am

When the hamper arrives in the laundry, could you have a basket for already clean clothes so you could dump it straight onto the kids bed?  At least that would avoid some of the wastage. 

Hastings's picture

Submitted by Hastings on Tue, 09/05/2023 - 9:49am

That's a good suggestion -- one for clean, one for dirty. No clue if that would work (it's like this kid actively looks for ways to be irresponsible and brainless), but could be worth a try!

justmakingthebest's picture

Submitted by justmakingthebest on Tue, 09/05/2023 - 9:50am

I actually vote that you do teach him to do laundry, He is certainly old enough and that is a life skill he needs to know. Plus once he washes, dries, and fold his clean clothes for who knows how many times, he might start paying a little attention!

Felicity0224's picture

Submitted by Felicity0224 on Tue, 09/05/2023 - 11:45am

When my YSD kept putting clean (folded!) laundry in her hamper, I gave her several warnings and finally gave her one outfit and one set of pajamas and packed up the rest of her clothes. She had to wash and dry the outfit every night to wear the next day. Waste of water, yes, but I was at my wits' end. It took probably six weeks or so of this (she was with us 50/50) before she asked for another chance. After that, I never found clean stuff in her laundry again. 

Dogmom1321's picture

Submitted by Dogmom1321 on Tue, 09/05/2023 - 7:14pm

I stopped doing SD13 laundry when she was about 9. Same thing was happening. She would stuff it under her bed or say it was "dirty" again so she didn't have to put it away. 
 

DH complained for a bit. Now it's his problem. He can wash it himself or SD13 can continue to wear the same dirty clothes... which she doesn't seem to mind for whatever reason. Either way, not my problem any more! 

Hastings's picture

Submitted by Hastings on Wed, 09/06/2023 - 7:48am

I stopped doing SS's laundry two or three years ago, so not my problem. Now, instead of my telling DH about this stuff, he sees for himself.

I actually do enjoy laundry, though. I find it relaxing.