Welcome to this week’s installment of WTF Wednesday, where we won’t rest until we get tired.
Today’s question comes via the magic of Twitter and is from Cindy Dwyer (@CindyDwyerWords), owner of the blog A Reason to Write. Cindy writes:
Dear IBMP,
If my son never puts his socks in the hamper, am I responsible when he runs out of clean ones?
Cindy, I checked with my son and it seems that yes, you are responsible. He was pretty clear about that. But, thinking this through, you are also the one who has to sit in the living room every evening with the fumes from those dirty socks radiating from your son’s feet.
We also need to extend your logic beyond socks and ask how long you are prepared to watch your son put on the same pair of overly ripened underwear before you break down and wash his clothes?
You see, the problem is that you assume your son actually cares whether his clothes are clean. Hell, I’m in my forties and wear the same shirt repeatedly until it finally succumbs to its increasing stiffness, cracks and crumbles to the floor.
Boys are essentially immune to the smell of their own dirty clothes. It’s a survival mechanism that ensures the species will continue to thrive in the event of a global catastrophic household appliance failure. I think that’s one of the examples Darwin lists in his famous thesis.
There is a solution:
It’s hard to tell from your question, but I’m going to guess that you’re one of those parents who ask their child to undress for their monthly bath or shower. Not only does this result in dirty clothes being scattered across the floor, it’s also a total waste of water. When bath time comes (every 5th Tuesday in our house), your child should be fully dressed and pre-soaked in liquid laundry detergent. Just make sure you hang or lay your son flat to dry, as his hard head could damage the dryer barrel even on the gentlest setting.
Problem solved. You’re welcome!
If you’ve submitted a question and you haven’t seen it yet, keep checking back. Yours might be next.
If you’ve got a question, drop it in the comments below.
I've become my parents 
68ghia
June 27, 2012
It is definitely a boy thing.
My 23 year old will dump his clothes everywhere BUT the laundry basket!
Next to it, underneath it, in front of it – never in!
Barmy Rootstock (IBMP)
June 28, 2012
Yes, well the floor is just an extension of the basket itself. Is not everything connected at some level?
Kay Lynn
June 27, 2012
Are you sure you haven’t been sneaking into my son’s room for your research? 🙂 Actually, everywhere seems to be his working definition for both hamper and dresser, as he apparently doesn’t know what either of those things are.
Barmy Rootstock (IBMP)
June 28, 2012
Ha! why bother using either one? Put stuff in the dresser and it has to be removed to wear it; put stuff in the hamper and it has to be removed to launder it. What’s the step in-between the two? Why, the floor of course. Your son is being efficient!
csgomez79
June 27, 2012
I laughed out loud at the cartoon. My son, who just happens to be 10, looks over at the screen and says “It’s true.” I remind my children right before I start laundry that if it “ain’t in the hamper it ain’t gettin’ clean” which always starts a mad scramble.
Barmy Rootstock (IBMP)
June 28, 2012
Your son and mine both!
Cindy Dwyer
June 27, 2012
I found out I’m also responsible for the iPod my husband left in his pants pocket. I’m just not going to do any more laundry….Thanks for the laugh today!
Barmy Rootstock (IBMP)
June 28, 2012
That’s the attitude! Clearly, if you can’t do it correctly, you should not be doing it at all. Don’t want to take any chances–best that your husband does his own laundry 🙂
Juniper
June 30, 2012
I love resding this and I don’t even have kids!
Barmy Rootstock (IBMP)
June 30, 2012
Awesome! The big question is whether, after reading this blog, you’ll ever choose to have kids. 😉
Juniper
July 2, 2012
Hahaha! Definitely will think twice, or thrice about the matter. Cheers!
Alicia
July 3, 2012
Mine confuses the hamper with the floor too (all the floors in the house, not only in his room) – but he will not be caught wearing the same shirt twice, even the same day! If it came off his body for any reasons, it won’t go back unless it went through the washer… I managed to convince him it’s OK to wear the pants a few days in a row 🙂
I even tried to sneak them back in the dresser… and found them on the floor a couple of hours later, while he’s wearing a brand new t-shirt! 🙂
Barmy Rootstock (IBMP)
July 4, 2012
Wow! Seems like he’s got a good incentive to put his clothes in the hamper. Want a clean shirt? Better put it where it belongs. My son, on the other hand, would be quite content to wear the same shirt every day for a month!