<p>D (24 and living on her own) and S (21 and in college) still bring home dirty laundry. Last May my son, upon finishing his junior year of college, returned home and I did 11 loads of dirty laundry (included 2 loads of my own)! I think he can go over a month without having to do his own laundry. Lots of clothes combined with the fact that boys seem to be rather adept at performing the “sniff test”!</p>
<p>My fridge is usually empty since DD left for school. I had no time to shop this week and her return home date was iffy so I saw no need to rush out and grocery shop. She texts me a little while ago…</p>
<p>DD- I’m absolutely famished
ME- Ok let’s go to XYZ store
DD- I hate that store
ME - LOL They are having a sale on BSCB so get over your disgust, get dressed, we leave in 30 minutes.
DD- MOM, I don’t want to go anywhere, I was shopping all night and I’m exhausted, I want to relax.
ME- OK, That’s fine because I don’t want to cook or go out! </p>
<p>Let’s see if her exhaustion is miraculously cured by a text or phone call from a buddy who has returned home from college for holiday break!</p>
<p>We got D a luggage tag that reads–only dirty laundry. It was in her stocking last year. She doesn’t perspire much and dislikes doing laundry. We have done laundry on several visits to see her. When she’s at our home, she can do her own or add a bit to our laundry. There is no waher or dryer where she lives in LA, so she has to go to laundromats.</p>
<p>After my D introduced me to Downy’s Unstopables, I don’t mind doing laundry because it smells so fresh.
When my kids visit, I only do my son’s. My D won’t let me touch hers. 
</p>
<p>DS(20 and in college) doesn’t bring any extra clothes home with him except some clean underwear. He just borrows his younger brothers clothes… I don’t really notice much difference in the pile. I usually have them help with the laundry. </p>
<p>Are you living in my house??? Yes - same - they came home and the laundry’s exploded. A confession - my husband does all the laundry and I think he secretly enjoys it. We call him the Laundry Hunk :)) </p>
<p>YOU are inundated with laundry? That is your choice. </p>
<p>Our kids were welcome to bring their laundry home…but THEY were the ones who had to do their wash…not me.</p>
<p>My family all has done their own laundry, including DH, since the oldest kid was about grade 7. I recently visited one of my DDs and since she works very long & very hard, I took the opportunity to do all her laundry & clean her place, probably the first time I have had that chance since HS.</p>
<p>Ya’ll will appreciate this story. One of my DDs lives not too far from me and we do things for each other quite often, one favor DH does involves going to her house once every week or two & when he does, he takes all the laundry and does it. And he chortles all the way home, it just tickles his funny bone to take our dirty laundry to DDs house!</p>
<p>I may do it ONCE when they come home, to be nice and get my “mothering” over with, but then they do it themselves, as they have for many years. My son came home and I said “what, have you not done laundry since Thanksgiving?” And he said “Yep, and I had just enough underwear.” They do seem to appreciate my help now, so that’s nice. </p>
<p>I don’t really mind doing it…it reminds me that I am a mother…hahaha!</p>
<p>We recently moved, and finally got rid of our washer/dryer we purchased in 1986. The washer was having end of life problems, which made doing laundry a chore. In our new home, we have a new a top of the line washer/dryer set. I’ve only been here a little more than a month, so the novelty hasn’t worn off yet, but doing laundry with such beautiful appliances is wonderful, plus I love the way clean laundry smells. </p>
<p>I am in the bring-home-the-laundry camp. I generally like to do laundry so I am sure that helps, but especially at the end of the semester when they’ve been focused on finishing papers and taking exams, it’s fine that they stored up their dirty laundry to bring home. When my oldest was a freshman I think we actually bought about 6 small plastic laundry baskets at Target that get brought out just for the end-of-semester laundry. I do some and they do some – I just accept that over the few weeks they are home, there are going to be a few extra laundry baskets around. I don’t mind and I will probably miss it when the youngest finishes college.</p>
<p>Mine brought laundry home during undergrad days, but did it themselves like they had been doing since age 12. I have other ways of showing that I’m a caring parent than folding their socks and undies. Every family is different. </p>
<p>Everyone is different. If you hate doing it you can certainly tell them to do it. Me, I like doing it and have no desire to ask them to do it. My mother did mine until I moved out after I got my first job. Our neighbor whose kids did their own laundry starting at age 9 was convinced I’d never learn to do laundry. My mother thought that was silly. And it really really is my favorite chore. I’m happy to do it for my kids the way my mom did for me. </p>
<p>I don’t go out of my way to do just THEIR laundry, but if I’m doing mine anyway, I ask if they have anything that needs to be done because my clothes alone rarely make up a full load. It makes me crazy to think about running 6 small loads instead of 2 full ones. It’s just such a huge waste. </p>
<p>Laundry here is kind of a family affair anyway. I might start it but I’ll ask them to switch it or carry it up. I sort it out and put their stuff on their beds but they have to do something with it. I’m not folding and putting away. I’m just separating out whose is whose. If I’m doing mine anyway, it’s not a big deal to toss their stuff in too. My D does go through towels at an incredible rate though. That’s annoying!</p>
<p>“I don’t go out of my way to do just THEIR laundry, but if I’m doing mine anyway, I ask if they have anything that needs to be done because my clothes alone rarely make up a full load. It makes me crazy to think about running 6 small loads instead of 2 full ones. It’s just such a huge waste.”</p>
<p>This is my laundry philosophy, too. Kiddo gives me her stuff, I throw it in the washer together with ours, them kiddo folds her own clean clothes (or I do it, or she folds everyone’s clothes). </p>
<p>We don’t do half loads. My mom refuses because it’s a waste- my partner and I won’t because we’re lazy and that’s an extra trip up and down the stairs. If you don’t have enough laundry, you wait until you do or you get someone else’s clothes to throw in. </p>
<p>Luckily it’s rarely an issue. </p>
<p>I like doing laundry. The washing and drying is nothing, since the machines do it. And as for the folding, that’s when I get to watch my junk TV shows. :)</p>
<p>Confession: I find it a fun challenge to get stains out. I’m pretty good at it. I often get texts from friends and family asking, “How do I get XXXX stain out?” And, my sisters will set aside clothes that they can’t get the stain out for me to do when I visit.</p>
<p>(I know, weird!)</p>
<p>My kids START their laundry, but it seems that I’m often the one pulling it out of they dryer and folding it. Mostly that’s to move things along. I washed my kids laundry from K- 12, but I told each of them when they went off to college that that was it. They seemed to think that was fair. None of them have every brought home more than a load and they’ve never asked me to do it. </p>