For the past two years Alyssa has been bringing me her laundry basket when it’s full, and about a year ago Ryan pitched in and began bringing me his, too. Now they tend to trade off on the weeks, with one kid bringing both baskets one week, and the other bringing both baskets the next week. Alyssa folds her own clothes and puts them away (though a lot of the time I’ll just fold them myself and give her the basket to put away), and Ryan is learning how to fold socks, now that he has mastered matching them. He also puts his own clothes away.
My mom laughs when she sees the kids handling their laundry, but the comments she makes leads me to believe that she disapproves of them helping with laundry. Why? But then, I think about how she was with me — I didn’t start doing laundry until after I moved out at 18, because she always did it for me! She even folded it and put it away, though by the time I was sixteen or so she would hand me the piles of folded clothing to handle. She’s the same way with my brothers. They’re twelve and fourteen, and the only reason they know how to do laundry is because I taught them, and their foster parents require them to pitch in with all household chores, laundry included.
I think Alyssa and Ryan are at the perfect age to help out with chores, especially with laundry that consists of only their own clothes! Alyssa also makes her own bed — at her own request, and often without me even knowing about it until she comes and tells me. Ryan loves to sweep my kitchen floor, and they both love to mop it (I have a Swiffer WetJet that they have a blast with). And don’t even get me started on how many hours they could happily spend wiping down every hard surface in the house with cleaning & disinfecting wipes!
Kids NEED to learn chores. They need to learn responsibility, and it’s nice to have a few extra pairs of hands around the house, but even more importantly, they need to understand that a magic cleaning fairy doesn’t just come along and take care of everything with a snap of her fingers. Chores — especially laundry — take time, and the time and work involved needs to be understood, appreciated, and respected.
My name is Jenn, and I'm 27 years old. I'm happily married to my best friend and soulmate, Daniel. Together we have a seven year old daughter named 
Name: Alyssa
Name: Ryan
I think it’s so great that they help so much and even trade off on the laundry baskets. We (my sister and I) didn’t start doing laundry until we were 11 or so, and then we’d always fight about whose turn it was, lol.
.-= Amy´s last blog ..Early To Bed, Early To Rise. =-.