<p>Seriously, guys, how long do you think it takes to wash your clothes? Like someone said previously, you throw your clothes in the washer, go and study, move clothes from washer to dryer, go study, remove clothes from dryer. It’s that simple. That’s three sessions of seven minutes each, punctuated by sessions of studying, once a week, perhaps on Saturday or Sunday. It’s not that frickin hard. Do yourself a favor and save $700. To say washing your clothes takes away from study time is complete and total BS.</p>
<p>Last year, my son did his own laundry. Wrinkle-free khakis and dress shirts helped. Downy Wrinkle Releaser saved his life. On a couple occasions, I helped him and found that he was completely cramming too many things into the poor machines and the machines were so worn out from so many kids doing the same thing that there was barely any movement to them. Basically, his clothes were not getting very clean. The dryers ran so hot that I’m surprised his clothes didn’t disintegrate. He ended up wearing sweaters more often than blazers so we used the service for sweaters. Honestly, he didn’t have his blazers cleaned all year. He also talked me into buying more clothes than he probably needed because he hated doing laundry. Still, he did it and did not complain. </p>
<p>Being the queen of justification, I thought that perhaps the expense wouldn’t be too great and I would at least look into it for this year…after all, fewer clothes to buy, having them actually be clean, money he worked for over the summer could be contributed all factored in…right???</p>
<p>I checked out the pricing from E&R Just the Basics plan is $700. Look Sharp plan is $900.
There is no way to justify this for our family. He will do his own and I will have him bring it with him whenever he comes so that we can get things truly clean every once in awhile. It is a shame that E&R is the only option for the kids. I called a local establishment and found that they pick up and deliver for almost all of the school’s faculty, but they cannot do the same for the kids due to the E&R contract. I understand that the school has to pick a place and stick with it…I don’t fault them but each school has a different pricing plan and I just read that the same E&R service that is $700 at Hotchkiss is only $470 at Yale. That’s a shame. </p>
<p>If nothing else, maybe the school could add a table for folding and a rack for hanging shirts to the laundry room. I guess I could suggest those improvements…</p>
<p>How about less spending money, buying used text books AND doing your own laundry. You don’t do a child any favors by helping them avoid the most basic plumbing of their lives like laundry, cleaning up after yourself, living on a budget. Our boarding school children are so heavily gifted that any exposure to reality can only be a good thing.</p>
<p>Just a curiousity for me,why send kids to boarding school? Never knew anybody who chose this for their kids.My kids did do private schools,and I loved seeing them every day. They are gone as of 2 days ago-as my D wrote on calendar “Gone Forever” (Cruel).Other than parents who travel frequently,or some special programs for special kids,I don’t understand why kids leave home in sixth grade.Please tell me why you made this choice for boarding school .My 4 kids all learned laundry at age 12,as a useful life skill .Of course,I am always happy to do stain treatments(I am an expert on stains) or run a laundry load in an "emergency"Kids aren’t usually careful with checking their packets,which is why I never mix laundry loads.</p>
<p>Costs for laundry service vary (at Exeter the basic plan will cost less than $60/month); kids vary in their willingness to actually do laundry versus live in stinky clothes; free time varies, depending on participation in sports, music;and other e.c.'s; parents vary in what they are and are not willing to pay for–where they save and where they spend. Bottom line…it’s an individual decision, and I think blanket judgments are particularly unhelpful here.</p>
<p>We’re paying for laundry service for this year–because of son’s busy schedule (with potentially 3 jv/varsity sports and band 2 evenings a week), new responsibilities in general, relatively inexpensive cost, the potential for a tidier room, and the stink factor. But that’s just us!</p>
<p>fauxmaven: the why boarding school question is a good one, but complex, and answered in detail on other threads.</p>
<p>In the US most kids leave home for boarding school in 9th grade, not 6th! There are a handful of schools that still start in 8th, but they are rare in the US. </p>
<p>@parlabane - No one has said that their children shouldn’t do their own laundry. I happen to think it’s a great deal. For about 50 dollars a month, my son’s clothes will be pressed and hung and dry cleaned if needed. </p>
<p>Really, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s laundry. It’s not like the kids with the service are missing out on some difficult training that will cause them to lose a job in future or something. Good grief! My son could have the service all four years at Exeter and I HIGHLY doubt doing his own laundry in college will be some kind of extreme stressor that he’ll have a hard time coping with because he had a service in BS. Like Tom said, it’s really no big deal. But you’re acting as if having a laundry service is some kind of character defect.</p>
<p>Neato, I think I agree with you on 95% of all your posts - except laundry. I don’t care how busy your kid is, how good “the deal” is, or any other rationalizations. Maybe it’s my character defect, but I put a premium on self-sufficiency and responsibility, especially for kids who are having a small fortune spent on them. It’s not that laundry is a big deal, per se. It’s that laundry represents one of your boarding school child’s only chores and it should be done without complaint or excuse or any other ginned up reason.</p>
<p>I see your point about it being one of their only chores and I respect your opinion on that. I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree! 
I’m sure there are things that I think are great life lessons that others don’t hold as so important.</p>
<p>Barf is a good word. I feel sorry for kids who have to do their own laundry.(if they really don<code>t wish to) It</code>s not fun waiting for a machine or finding your clothes in a pile when you didn’t retrieve them fast enough. Oh, and throw that on top of sports, clubs, homework(lots of homework), school chores and college applications!</p>
<p>From Parlabne “but I put a premium on self-sufficiency and responsibility,”</p>
<p>I can totally understand your point of view, but my d has shown those skills in other ways. For example, when you are up at 5:30am to ride across town to arrive at school at 8am on public transportation, then sleeping on your mom’s office floor until 10pm in order to get home “safely” and still find a way to dance 15 hours/per week, volunteer and still find a way to be #2 in the freshman class…</p>
<p>Having laundry service is one of the few things my mom “gifted” my daughter for her hard work.</p>
<p>Can she do laundry, sure, will she have the service next year, I hope so, but understand, all bs students do not come from homes of wealth, nannies or sometimes not even dads.</p>
<p>IMHO</p>
<p>I’m sorry, maddog, for what I hope you will find a serious reality check, but GET REAL. Laundry is a 20 minute commitment once a week. You have no reason to feel sorry for me or any other students who do their own laundry. Actually, maybe you should be jealous of us; we have $700-$900 in out pockets rather than in E&R’s. Just how busy do you think boarding school kids are? Busy enough we can’t find 20 minutes?</p>
<p>Do you know how long I spend walking in between classes and commitments each day at Andover? At least 40 minutes. EVERY DAY. That’s twice the amount of time it takes to do laundry ONCE A WEEK. Get this idea that laundry interferes with day-to-day life out of your head. As has already been said twice on this thread, here’s how laundry works: you walk downstairs, put some quarters, detergent, and your clothes into the washing machine, and hit “start.” Walk back upstairs and do homework for 45 minutes. Walk back downstairs, put some quarters, softener, and your clothes into the dryer, and hit start. Walk back upstairs and do homework for 55 minutes. Walk back downstairs, get your clothes, and go back upstairs to your work. It’s that easy and that cheap.</p>
<p>Look, I have no problem with people who pay to have their laundry done professionally. I certainly judge NO ONE at school who pays to have their laundry done. For some, it’s the right solution - especially if they attend a very formal school like Deerfield or Hotchkiss, or if they have allergies to pollens and other allergens that a normal washing machine won’t remove completely. And for the rest, I very much believe in choice, but at the moment, I fail to understand why anyone would choose not to save money if the money-saving action required very little additional work or time, </p>
<p>Considering there are only 31 weeks in the typical BS academic year, that equates to about $25-30 dollars per week for what it takes a student about 1 hr per week to do (at most!). </p>
<p>I do have to chuckle at the length of this thread and the passion about the subject of laundry! :)</p>
<p>Haha, me too, really. Though I would not necessarily consider myself part of this contingent… There are some who consider laundry service to be a status symbol - a vestige of the past, of the way boarding school used to be.</p>
<p>REALLY, this is laundry we`re talking about. Reality check? GET A GRIP</p>
<p>Haha this is fun to read. I do my own laundry and only every other week. It’s really not that hard.</p>
<p>Mm, quite a rebuttal there, maddog</p>
<p>I can’t help but feel partly to blame for the fact that kids have hijacked a thread in the “Prep School Parents” forum… Sorry, parents, my bad…</p>
<p>Some boarding schools do not have washing machines/dryers on campus.</p>
<p>@alexz825mom: if memory serves, you are not a full pay parent and your daughter has not grown up surrounded by the advantages of the moneyed. </p>
<p>I do have very pronounced negative feelings about kids and their parents who come from positions of plenty and then offer up a litany of lame excuses for not being able to handle an hour a week of wash. And for those who can’t believe we’re arguing about wash, you miss the point. It’s a discussion about spoiled kids and the parents who enable it.</p>
<p>How do you feel about FA students getting the laundry service, parlabane? Sorry if you already answered that.</p>