Dirty Laundry

Laundry. Ugh. It never ends.

Now that my girl is 2, it's time to put her to work.

She can do ALL of our laundry, yay!

But first I must teach her to sort her own. 

This is a fun way for tots to learn about responsibility and colors/matching. The reward is a big sense of accomplishment and praise for a job well done. It's all about  "I do myself" these days, so this task is perfect.

Plus, the more I encourage her to do things on her own...the less work for me...eventually, right?

We found two stackable bins with wheels and handles for her room (see bottom of post for info on this specific basket).

I took some Microsoft clip art (free) and jazzed it up with some colors and embellishments. I then printed, laminated and taped them to the bins (one for Colors and one for Whites).

At each 'wardrobe change', I ask her to put the dirty clothing in the correct bin. It's amazing  how fast she caught on. She even looks for laundry (that isn't hers or isn't dirty) to put in the bins. We do have a few random items that show up in the baskets on occasion (brushes, stuffed animals, one of moms boots), but that's all part and parcel of 'toddler'. 

When the bins are full, she wheels them to the laundry room and helps toss them in the washer. When laundry is done, she wheels them back to her room and we fold/ put away together.

I'm working on clothing identification signs for each of her drawers too-  (socks, pajamas, shirts, - you get the idea), so she can put them away on her own. I haven't finished them yet because I'm too busy doing all this freakin' laundry!