When I was a child children had school uniforms for the week and one set of clothes for best and old things to wear for play. There was never a problem with choosing what to wear as the choice was so limited. One of the biggest tasks a modern parent (particularly a mother) has to deal with, is coping with clothes. Every day there is a new pile of dirty ones and when these are washed, it is pegging out, bringing in, folding, ironing and putting away. It brings to mind that old song ‘It was on a Monday morning that I beheld my Darling…’

My granddaughter has a dress-up box and she loves to rummage in it. By the time she has transformed herself into the character she wants to be, there are clothes all over the room and she has disappeared leaving the mess. There is a rule about packing up before a new game begins using different things, but her memory is short on that.

These days most Australian families have automatic washing machines and many have dryers as well. These machines certainly remove a lot of the drudgery that my Mother had to cope with, but clothes can still cause loads of stress. When, oh when are children capable of dealing with their own clothes?

Toddlers can:

• throw dirty clothes into a basket - Keep it in the bathroom and establish a routine to throw clothes in it before bathtime
• sort a few socks into pairs ready for you to fold together
• open drawers and put undies away,

Pre-schoolers can:

• also feel in pockets for tissues or toys
• sort clothes according to colour
• remember to put hats and shoes in special places
• wriggle under the beds to look for lost clothes

School-aged kids can:

• fold their clean clothes
• hang them up
• carry a basket to the laundry
• put socks in to soak
• iron easy things

Older kids can:

• be responsible for putting out all their dirty clothes
• operate the washing machine
• use the dryer
• help Mother by pegging out or bringing in the washing.

If the washing chores are shared, no person should be stressed too much, but training must begin early so jobs become automatic. We all want clean clothes so let’s make it as easy as possible.

Tags: behaviour, play