Cost of laundry and dry-cleaning

Cant you just tell them 'NO!'   

Ah if only it were that simple! They understand "no" for a minute or two then go back to whatever it is they're not supposed to be doing.  You just have to put it somewhere they're not likely to be playing. Ours goes on the upstairs landing.

Aillidh mostly ignores it.  If she starts pulling it, I give her one piece - a towel or bandana, and that's hers to put on and off the rack.  She only gets the one. 

This place is too small to really have a place where she won't play, so instead we try to turn dem chores into a game.

Chores are great for kids - the earlier, the better! 

I heartily agree.  Sophia is now a laundry expert at the ripe old age of 2.5.  She can hang clothes with the best of them.  It's so cute watching her shake the wrinkles out of things, such concentration in her face.  Very serious business, laundry!

Oh well either I am a rubbish mother or he's too young to understand. He is very good at taking things out of cupboads, off the clothes airer etc but putting anything back? forget it!

I am glad some other mothers have replied already, because I was tempted to say "You don't have children, do you?"  But, I'm a total newbie and I didn't want to come across as snarky!

My little one is 16 months... and "no" sometimes has an effect on him. Well, it usually does, unless it's something he finds REALLY enthralling. I only get mean about it if it's something dangerous or if he's really being annoying (changing the TV channels after I've told him not to.) Hanging laundry? I'd have to stand there and watch it dry if I didn't want him pulling on it!

I've decided, however, that a real dryer is my number one priority. I don't care if we go without practically everything else... I must have a real hot air tumble dryer.

I'm open to hanging things in nice weather to save on energy costs. That's as far as it goes.

I am glad some other mothers have replied already, because I was tempted to say "You don't have children, do you?"  But, I'm a total newbie and I didn't want to come across as snarky!

No, i dont have children... it just seemed logical to me that you would tell them no, and if that didnt work, then they would get some sort of reprimand, rather than being allowed to continue on their merry way!  Perhaps  i've been watching too much 'Supernanny!' 
Dont worry about being sarky... we're all grown-up boys and girls and if anyone wants to take it personally, then that's their problem!   

No, i dont have children... it just seemed logical to me that you would tell them no, and if that didnt work, then they would get some sort of reprimand, rather than being allowed to continue on their merry way!  Perhaps  i've been watching too much 'Supernanny!' 

I love watching Supernanny - makes my kids seem like little angels by comparison!!! 

(Sorry, end hijack!)

Supernanny deals with bratty kids in need of discipline. Wee toddlers are not being naughty when they pull on everything they can reach. It's just what they do. You can try to teach them that some things are NEVER to be touched, but it's easier to just put them out of their reach.

Wee toddlers are not being naughty when they pull on everything they can reach. It's just what they do. You can try to teach them that some things are NEVER to be touched, but it's easier to just put them out of their reach.

It is easier for the parent in the short run, but if you don't try to teach them then how will they ever learn in the long run?

I don't know what everybody's drying rack looks like, but I imagine that it might be possible for a curious child trying to pull something off to topple the whole thing over and injure himself,  or another child or a pet.  I would be more worried about that than about my clothes getting wrinkled or dirty.

I certainly hope you are able to tell your children "No" when you are using a hot iron.

It is easier for the parent in the short run, but if you don't try to teach them then how will they ever learn in the long run?

I don't know what everybody's drying rack looks like, but I imagine that it might be possible for a curious child trying to pull something off to topple the whole thing over and injure himself,  or another child or a pet.  I would be more worried about that than about my clothes getting wrinkled or dirty.

I certainly hope you are able to tell your children "No" when you are using a hot iron.

As the mother of two who have survived toddlerhood, I can assure you that it's not that simple.  Don't want to get into a child rearing debate w/you here, but your post comes across as a wee bit judgmental.  Once the kiddos have passed toddlerhood it's much easier to teach them that certain things are totally off limits, but until then it's perfectly sensible to move something you don't want your toddler messing with out of his/her reach altogether...

Exactly! We DO tell them "No! Don't touch!" but the fact is, a baby really won't remember what you just told them... so you'd better keep that hot iron well out of reach! Something like a big rack of laundry will just BEG to be pulled on and you'd be telling them "no!" for months before they actually understood that they are to never touch it, not just to stop touching it at that moment.

I repeatedly tell my son to stop pulling things out of/putting things into the trash. He'll stop what he's doing at the moment, but he does it again the very next day.

Hello everyone, OK this thread has gone way off topic and now seems to be about people's parenting skills.

Can we

(a) get back on topic

and

(b) remember that all children and parents are different and everyone has their own way of doing things; what works with your child might not work with someone else's;

Thank you.

Well.. you're no fun! 

Anyway, I've gotten my fiance's word that a REAL dryer is our number one purchase when I get over there.

I will have to find something else to complain about when I'm over there!

Do they not sell those washer/dryer sets where the dryer is above the washer? Are they hideously expensive?

The biggest problem in many British homes is simply finding the space.  If you have the room you can buy the big Whirlpool washers and dryers over here, for example:

http://www.ogormans.co.uk/whirlpoo1.htm

http://www.ogormans.co.uk/whirlpoo6.htm

Is the cost of electricity all that awful?

Generally higher than the U.S., but not really that bad.   

Using my current tariff, running a typical smaller British 3-kilowatt dryer for 2 hours would cost 55 pence.    If your home has the "Economy 7" tariff, you can make substantial savings by running the dryer at night.    The same 3kW 2-hr load on the night rate works out to approx. 22 pence.   

With one of the 4.6-kilowatt Whirlpool dryers linked to above a 2-hour drying cycle comes out as 85 pence day, 33 pence night  (but obviously the 4.6kW dryer will have supplied more heat in 2 hours than the 3kW one ). 

You can get the stacking kind - Hotpoint do them for one.