Laundry. It is the one chore I truly despise. I swear The Husband uses 14 towels for every shower and changes his boxers at least 5 times a day. And The Kid? Don't even get me started on how many pairs of socks he goes through weekly. I can never get caught up on the laundry.
Since we both work, we've divvied up the chores fairly equally, and laundry just happens to be my chore. Because, letsfaceit, it wouldn't get done, never mind folded, if is was my husband's chore.
Last night, I was folding yet another load of laundry while chatting with The Kid. As I checked the pockets of a pair of The Husband's pants, I found $2. Score! The Husband is always leaving cash in his pockets, cash that I find while doing laundry and then keep. I consider this my reward for maintaining this wretched chore.
"What's that?" asked The Kid.
"Cha-ching!" I exclaimed.
The Kid is currently saving for something he really really wants. He has a cigar box with his money in it and a chart where he tracks the percentage of the purchase price he has saved up. I've thrown him a dollar here and there, as has The Husband.
"Can I have it?"
"Um, no. I do all your stinky laundry so I keep everything I find in the pockets," I replied. "If you want to start doing all the laundry, then you can keep all the money you find in the pockets."
Currently, his chores are clearing the plates and loading the dishwasher after dinner, keeping his room clean, cleaning the dog poop from the yard and mowing the lawn. In exchange for this, we feed him, clothe him and pay for his monthly xBox Live membership.
"No way!" he cried, as if I had threatened him with some ancient form of torture. "I'm going upstairs to practice my guitar."
Stomp. Stomp. Stomp up the stairs.
I continued checking pockets and folding the mountain of clothing in front of me. About 5 minutes later, I hear the guitar strumming stop and The Kid creeping down the stairs. He poked his head around the corner.
"Hey. Can laundry be my chore now?" he asked shyly.
I must have stood there in disbelief for an extended amount of time.
"Well...?" he prodded.
Still thinking he was up to something, I asked, "Really? You want to do the laundry? It's a big chore."
"Yeah."
"Well then, helllllllllllllllllll yeah laundry can be your chore. Starting now!" I said as I threw down the t-shirt I was folding.
He happily took up the chore, checking all pockets as he carefully folded clothing and matched socks.
After the initial astonishment wore off, I decided to take advantage of my new found free time. I called a friend I haven't seen in ages and we headed down to the nearest tea house to catch up.
When I came home two hours later, I saw piles of clean folded laundry on the table.
The Kid bounded up to me and said, "Hey guess what?! While I was doing laundry, I found $13! I'm up to 27% of my goal saved! I'll do another load when I get home from school tomorrow."
So maybe his reasons for taking on a new chore are rather selfish. And maybe I'll regret passing this chore along when we get a batch of newly-pink whites. But for now I'm going to enjoy my reprieve, and hope his motivation lasts.
8 comments:
For a minute I thought you had snuck into my house and taken a picture... I HATE LAUNDRY! We no longer have a spare bedroom, it is the "laundry room" minus the washer and dryer. The spare bed has a box full of socks (because I hate matching them up also) and 2 piles of clothes on it, one for me and one for Hubby. When the Kid is with us, he has to sort the clothes into piles, put his own away, and fold the bath towels. But I do all the washing ect and put the rest away (theoretically)plus do everything when he isn't around. I tempted my SS with the same "you get to keep the pocket money" deal, but he knows we rarely carry cash, so it wasn't going to get him much.
Tell The Kid he can come to my house and do laundry. He can keep all the change he finds as he sorts the piles that need to be washed.
I only request that I get to fold the clothes.
(yes, I like to fold clothes)
Sounds like you made a good deal. Just offer to start the whites in the washer. That saves you from having pink clothes. He can still dry them and fold them.
Enjoy the rest while it lasts!
Hell yeah! Even if his motives are solely based on money, it helps you out...at least until he shrinks your favorite sweater.
:) this made me smile... ant opportunity to pass chires off is great!! even if it is a selfish motive on both parts :)
What a fabulous win-win!
LOVE it!! :)
OMG, this is great! My SS14 and SD13 drive me nuts with the laundry and we just started having them do their own. I HATE how the fold stuff, but I don't have to wear it because we do our own. They have been fighting this like it's "our" job to do their laundry, and we finally told them we won't do it anymore.
Post a Comment