<p>The thought of my son doing his own laundry is frankly, pretty terrifying. I guess my son hasn’t been “brought up right” either. 
We’ll follow the advice of the Parent’s Guide to Exeter and get him the service.</p>
<p>Lol! That would describe my oldest - waits until the clothes can walk to the laundry on their own. But my youngest is more body conscious so I know it will get done. And you see where my head is at - here locally, my oldest went to a private school where we thought we knew the fees then after acceptance got the “surprises” like technology fees, book fees, “consumables” fees, “hey it’s a blue moon and we just feel like charging you” fees in addition to the raffle tickets, the auction benefit tickets and the endless come and volunteer while we treat you like dirt after your check clears emails.</p>
<p>But my daughter was happy for the most part so we put up with the suck you dry fees. I find boarding school to be more upfront about the pricing and book/supply estimates - lol!</p>
<p>But yeah - there were those pesky issues about wealthier kids announcing, “hey, we’re going to Switzerland (or fill in the blanks) over break” that bothered me because I couldn’t afford it. But neither could my friends so it felt okay not to be rich.</p>
<p>I will say I’m trying to squirrel money away for one of the service trips abroad programs that her school does over spring break. I know they have grants to help, but that is the one thing I want her to be able to do if it’s offered. If you see me on the street panhandling - throw money. Change, bills, I’m not proud :-)</p>
<p>At least one of the all boys schools doesn’t even give them an option to do their own laundry…good thinking - they’d all be in class in pretty smelly clothes, so it’s probably for the teachers sake too.</p>
<p>A friend of mine had her son go away to college and one of his Facebook posts in September was priceless “Hoping that my clothes still fit after I wash them.”</p>
<p>While we’re on the topic of Laundry Service…I was planning on having my son do his laundry. However, the service at his school charges $1.50/pound…not sure how that compares to dropping quarters in the machines. Has anyone found that the Laundry Service is worth it over paying to use the onsight machines?</p>
<p>The service at my son’s school is a flat fee for the entire year - unlimited. It’s been Soooooo worth it. It includes dry cleaning (and with a dress code of blazer, that’s worth it). Now, I have no idea if it is more than if they charged per pound.</p>
<p>Yeah, I wish I could get E and R to come by my house! Shirts and slacks pressed and hung, everything folded…<em>dreaming</em></p>
<p>Both my son and daughter have managed to do their own laundry without any issues. The unexpected plus is that they now do their own laundry when home on break. Helpful hint: buy a tube of mini m&ms and fill it with quarters for them.
zp</p>
<p>Neato - just a head’s up on the E&R service - buy extra socks! for some reason they do pretty well on everything but that. My son’s dorm actually has a bulletin board where you can post socks that you got in your laundry that are not yours (the “Hello Kitty” ones he got once where a real laugh!).</p>
<p>Most extra or “hidden” expenses have been in senior year. Class photos, rings (I certainly hope that if they all put their rings together and yell “shazaam” that something very cool happens, because at that price they should do something other than sit on your finger!), prom, tux rental, yearbook “parent” ad, … </p>
<p>Until this year though, other than parent weekend and other trips for special occassions, they have been pretty good.</p>
<p>How about the $150 for the yearbook? They don’t tell you about that one.</p>
<p>My daughter does her own laundry - but she is a girl! Her whites aren’t very white any more but she insists that she does indeed separate. When she’s home she dumps it in the hallway just like she did before and I end up doing all of it. Somehow these changes in her life completely revert when she is home. But that’s okay with me. Maybe I can get her whites back to white over the summer.</p>
<p>She loses socks too - I think the washer probably eats them.</p>
<p>Wow, and I thought $60 for a yearbook was high. Now I am going to say yes. Oh, and both my daughter and I lose socks in the wash. Must be genetic.
zp</p>
<p>speaking of not-so-white whites…I was a a laundromat once at a campground and saw a man (not to be sexist, but a man?) pre-treating EVERY SINGLE sock with spray and wash before he put them in. None of them even looked a bit dirty to me. But then I guess that’s why.</p>
<p>On the other subject…we had the class ring expense in Junior year - should have done it in 10th grade - it would have been $100+ LESS!<br>
Prom also this year…</p>
<p>$$ are tight for us, but we elected for the laundry service as there is a formal dress code–definitely worth it and a decent value due to the dry cleaning of skirts, blazers, sweaters etc. that obviously can’t be washed. Nothing has been lost or shrunk–very satisfied.</p>
<p>If the dress code were casual, I would have expected my child to wash clothes–the machines are a bit pricey at school but it would definitely be cheaper.</p>
<p>I LOVE the fact that the laundry service is a requirement at DS school, since it does have a dress code. My problem is getting him to actually send his clothes to the service! Last time I was there I had to go through his things and show him that brown on the collar meant dirty! Gross.</p>
<p>I’m with you hockeymom. Even though our school it is required, I would have absolutely done it - money tight and all. The dry cleaning alone (if as Scotland45 says, he would put the blazers and ties in) could easily be half of the cost.
Now if only they could do something about the smell of the dorms… :)</p>
<p>OMG! lol!</p>
<p>Stinky dorms? So should I be supplying my daughter with Febreeze and an air cleaner?</p>
<p>Okay, I’m sucking it up and paying for laundry…it’s a boy thing apparently (with the exception of the man in the campground who proves the rule) </p>
<p>The semi-hidden costs I’ll be glad to see go away are the ps fundraisers–like the 20 taco dinner tickets we’re buying this week-end because we just can’t keep asking our friends and neighbors to subsidize our children’s sports.</p>
<p>Good point about the fundraisers classicalmama…
We are asked (my not pressured by any means) to donate if we have anything appropriate, to an Auction - I think many schools have them. And I would HIGHLY encourage ALL parents to donate to the Annual Fund - even if it is just $25 - participation is HUGE. But other than that, we don’t get wrapping paper and pizza home to sell every other week.</p>
<p>One thing to ask about is the outside “activities.” Some schools do kind of “nickle and dime” you to death with them and others they are all included. Things like weekend movies (and transportation), and other weekend activities - my son can go bowling, laser tag, mall trips, concerts, sports events, etc. All included in the activity fee. That would add up FAST if he were billed for them.</p>
<p>The other thing I forgot to mention was sports uniforms. We have been charged for those for some teams and not for others, I think it depends on the team. For swimteam, obviously, we were charged for the swimsuit. For track she was given used uniforms, no charge. For crew she is expected to purchase a uniform at the bookstore.</p>
<p>not sure if you were joking about the Febreeze…</p>
<p>my daughter did bring Febreeze–but then don’t all hockey families us it by the gallon for the smelly gear!!!</p>
<p>all kidding aside, after the first month she got some air freshener. Girls dorms gets stinky too.</p>