Laundry sitting in washer/dryer for 3 days
SD18 has been doing her own laundry since she was 14, and I probably should be thankful for that. Occasionally I would do it for her if I had time but since she couldn't seem to ever thank me, i stopped. She notorious for putting her laundry in the washer and then leaving the house for 8 hours in the hopes that someone else will put it in the dryer and fold it. DH used to do exactly that until I clued him into what she was doing. We recently built a house and purposely put the laundry room in the basement and told her that laundry can be done anytime 24/7 since it's downstairs and doesn't disturb anyone sleeping upstairs. We also told SD that we will not be completing her loads and if we find them in the washer/dryer and need to use them we will simply put them in a basket and leave them down there, wet or dry. The last 3 times I have went downstairs to do our laundry, there is either a load in the washer or dryer that needs to be unloaded and I am getting sick of it. I feel like i'm back in the days of having use a laundromat, constantly having to unload someone elses wash. Has anyone got an idea of how to make this stop? Being the evil step mother that I am, I stuff the clothes as tightly as possible into the laundry basket thereby creating many wrinkles but yet I keep finding clothes in the washer/dryer. Talking to her hasn't worked as I mentioned to her to stop doing laundry unless she is here to complete it. I'm half tempted to start taking one sock, one pair of underwear and throwing them away....
(No subject)
My SS16 dismissed my request
My SS16 dismissed my request for him to finish his laundry by Saturday night because I would be using it all day Sunday. Well, 11 AM sunday he's still doing laundry. At the time this was the straw that broke the camel's back because he thought he could constantly dismiss me.
I flew into a rage, and yelled for about 30 mins. I took a shower and kept yelling in the shower, my SO thought I was crazy. I was yelling, I guess as long as it's not important to SO and SS, then it must not be important. SO made the mistake of questioning me on this and I yelled, because it's important to ME!!!
Anyway, that was 6 months ago, and SS has never got in my way with the laundry again. I have almost no authority in my own home, but after that incident, I am now the queen of laundry.
I'm never proud of the way I acted, but in the end, going ballistic on SS worked. I picked my battle and that was a battle I wanted to fight. I get very anxious when I have to wait on the laundry machine to get my clothes ready for work.
I tell her & I would post a
I tell her & I would post a sign (so she can't cry I forgot)- "All Laundry left in machines will be donated to charity". Then do it. If it costs her money and she loses a few favorite items she should see the light.
Like simifan's idea. I
Like simifan's idea. I couldn't have done it at my house, SO would have thought I was a criminal abusing his son, but it might work with other families.
Not sure hubby would allow me
Not sure hubby would allow me to put her wet clothes on her bed but he is getting annoyed as well. I'm in the beginning stages of detachment so it's new to me to go directly to hubby with my complaints and not directly to the source but I did say to her in passing "don't put your laundry in if you aren't here to remove it as I have laundry to do"; this was met with ok so I guess we'll see. I do agree that I need to choose my battles wisely and I don't want hubby to think I'm constantly complaining. College starts Monday so I'll be curious to see what happens then as I don't even see how she'll have time to do laundry. I do like the idea of the sign stating that the clothes will go to charity. Perhaps each time I find a load in there past 3 days an article of clothing gets pulled and "disappears"...ha ha.
*edited to add, the other option is to tell her that she can no longer do her laundry here and must go to a laundromat
Forbid her to use the
Forbid her to use the machines if she continues to do this. She can take her clothes to the laundromat and pay for it herself.
I agree, this is my next step
I agree, this is my next step but the good news is she's not doing so good in College (Day 2) and the whole "free room and board" is only good while in school so I'm hoping she is out by Dec
and her laundry won't be my problem any longer
My kids, bio and step, have
My kids, bio and step, have been doing this for years. Our laundry room is also where the cat's litter box is, and the kids finally got tired of their clothes being covered in cat hair because I would just put them in a basket and leave them sitting on top of the dryer, and kitty loved laying in the clothes. LOL
I think for now I will
I think for now I will continue to just throw it in a basket in the basement. Her last load has been sitting there for a full week now. Might be time to donate it to charity
Same thing on my end... I
Same thing on my end... I merely take them out, do our(wifes and mine) and then put them back in. Eventually they dry and I place them in their, ss,sd room on their bed. The clothes do smell but they are totally ignorant of it. My bd laughs at me because I did the same thing to her. She purposely did her own laundry and stayed on top of it because things "disappeared". Crazy huh? :O