(This is a republish because this week’s Work For Me Wednesday is an oldie but goodie call)

Moms, let me break the news to you…You don’t have to do all the laundry but you do have to invest some time in training and let go of the details. Let us first start with the dirty clothes. By the time they are a year and a half my kids are responsible to put their own dirty clothes in the hamper (and yes I remind them;). Then by 5 they can sort their clothes into color piles (I do mine just because of the gentle issue). I do a cursory look until about 6. Now I don’t really check the NerdBug sorting unless I knew there was some iffy things. They are also always welcome to ask me if they are unsure which pile they go into. Then we go onto the washing and drying. When we moved into our new house we got the new front loading washer and dryer. This is great for kids. Both the 4 and 6 year old can easily put clothes in the washer and move them to the dryer. The 6 year old can even start the loads. Then I have the kids dump all the clean clothes into a basket and move them to the loft (where I want them to be). Now my kids do all this while I am nearby usually changing a baby or something like that (my laundry room is upstairs).

Then I invested in those pop up baskets for laundry that they sell with all the “stock up you dorm” stuff for $5, one for each kids. The ones I got at JoAnns have handles, are colored (one for each kid) and have sections you can velcro up or just leave as on big long basket. I sort all the laundry and put the appropriate foldables for each kid. For the 4 year old I give her wash cloths, spit cloths and her socks. The 6 year old gets all of his clothes at this point. Now, not everything is absolutely folded perfectly but it will be ok. My rule is, as long as it all fits in your drawers it is ok. I have gone through and shown them the correct way to fold, had them show me they can and let it go. Remember, you don’t have to look at it or do it so don’t complain.

Now I can’t wait until they can iron;).