More Man training

In my continuing effort to promote harmony between the sexes, I offer a bit of Man training.


I first have to say that my MIL did an awesome job in bringing up her sons to be self sufficient and her youngest son (my DH) did not need much training at all. So to that end, this training applies to children as well.

After all of that you're wondering what in the world I would be talking about...right?

Today's topic is getting your roommates to put their laundry where it should go. I have an acquaintance who requested some help with this very topic not long ago. It seems that her DH had a maid when he was growing up, so he never learned how to put his laundry where it should go. I offered up the following tips that I used for training my child in hopes that she might get some relief and perhaps they may help you as well.

1) Place laundry hampers in areas of your home where changing of clothes takes place. For example in our house we have laundry hampers in our closets and bathrooms. (Our one closet is located in the bathroom)

2) Make known the acceptable locations for the leaving of dirty clothing. In our home clothing can be left in one of the hampers located in convenient clothes changing areas of the home or in the laundry room located downstairs. (My daughter has and aversion to sweaty socks and likes to remove them downstairs. She was quickly able to learn that the laundry room was an acceptable receptacle and the couch was NOT.)

3) Use gentle reminders to get the offender to put discarded clothing where it belongs. i.e. "Darly, the couch is not a laundry hamper." Note: this tip is also useful for getting coats hung back up by changing the wording a bit... "Darly, the couch is not a closet." Other reminder versions "Is the couch/ floor/counter a hamper/closet?" Oh and most important! Do NOT under any circumstances move the dirty clothing yourself...make the offender move it. Otherwise you've taught them that if they leave the clothing there it will somehow get put away by magic. But if you remind them to move the clothing it will become easier to put the clothing where it belongs in the first place to avoid the reminders (which they refer to as nagging.)

4) If it seems that your roommate has chosen a different location for the depositing of dirty clothing, like the middle of the floor perhaps, leave a laundry hamper in that location as a reminder of where the clothing should go. After enough times of tripping over a laundry hamper they will get the hint!

And that concludes our lesson for today. I would really enjoy hearing your tips or comments about this lesson. Success stories would be most welcome!