Laundry, Part I:
Ari has the tendency to spill food on his clothes and/or wipe his hands on his shirt (rather than on a napkin) when we eat out. On Saturday evening, Marc and I reminded Ari to use the cloth napkin at the restaurant. He must’ve gotten annoyed after the third reminder since he declared, “You haven’t done any laundry today,” while looking me square in the eye.
He’s lucky he looked angelic while the sun set behind him on the restaurant’s patio since that comment didn’t land well.
“Are you kidding me? I already did two loads of laundry today. The first load of laundry was done after you came home from apple picking with mud all over your pants.” {Small four-year-old smile.} “And the second load of laundry was a load of towels after the shower you took when we returned home from apple picking. So, yes, I have done laundry today. Two loads worth! But that shouldn’t have any bearing on whether or not you use a napkin at dinnertime.”
And with that, Marc placed the napkin back on Ari’s lap for the fourth time during the meal. And I made a mental note of where I’d be spraying Zout on his clothes once we got home.
Laundry, Part II:
Last night, I invited (Maybe the right word is commanded.) the kids to come into my bedroom to help me sort laundry on my bed. At they tossed everyone’s clothes to the four corners of the king-size bed, Isabelle and Ari discovered multiple pieces of their clothing were inside out. BUT, they tossed them into their piles without fixing them.
I was unamused since I’ve been talking with both of them about turning their clothes right-side out before tossing them into the hamper. (Ari tends to make a better effort at this than Isabelle does despite the fact I’ve been placing her unwashed, inside-out clothes in front of her bedroom door with love letters on sticky notes saying, “Turn me right-side out and place me back in the hamper!”)
I tossed the clean, inside-out clothes back into the center of the bed where they were seated. I looked at kids and said, “You fix, I’ll fold.”
Ari apporached the task a bit more gingerly than Isabelle who seemed annoyed that she was being asked — yet again — to turn her clothes right-side out. I let the kids fix their clothes before I asked, “What could you do differently next time so you don’t have to spend time doing this when you help me sort your laundry?”
“Take our clothes off more carefully?” Isabelle asked.
“That would be helpful,” I replied.
“Turn them right-side out if they’re inside-out next time,” Ari offered.
“That would be helpful too.”
We’ll see what awaits me the next time I do the laundry. That’s another couple of days away.
Raising Literate Humans 
Stacey, you stirred a great debate in our household. Kathy’s mom told her to always turn the clothes inside out before washing because it pilling and fading. We were told to turn our clothes right side out. This made putting clothes away after the wash much easier. Plus they were ready to wear again.
A laundry lesson! Perfect! Even though there are only adults here now, the bulk of the household chores fall to me. Amassing negative comment about dinner or dust can rub me the wrong way. I wonder if a object lesson would work on them. 🤣
Ohhhh the LAUNDRY. I’m sending all the mama vibes your way. For us, it was a slippery slope. First I would fold the clothes and have kids help me put them away. Then I noticed they were just junking clothes in drawers, so I made them put clothes away from the basket themselves without folding. From there, it moved to them doing their own laundry. No, they don’t turn their clothes right-side out, and maybe they haven’t always cared well for their clothes. But it’s nice to turn over the job. Except…I still do laundry, somehow, several days a week. The mysteries abound! Good luck with your laundry quest. I’m pulling for you!