5 Reasons Dads Should Do the Laundry

By Matt | October 9, 2019

We are well into the 21st century, so I will assume that all dads are pitching in and doing their share around the house.

Yes, even if your wife stays home with the kids.

But I have a little laundry secret that I am going to share with all of my fellow dads. I hope it brings as much joy to you as it does to me.

Yes, I’m talking about laundry. And yes, I am a huge fan of dads doing it all! Here’s why…

1. It’s a GREAT excuse to hide out. I can spend hours in my “man cave” in the basement every Sunday afternoon folding laundry and watching football. Kids and wives are more than welcome to join me, but unfortunately I’m not able to do a lot of other things because I’m so busy doing the laundry.

2. I always have clean underwear. My wife focuses on the kids’ clothing first, and she puts our laundry at the bottom of the pile. When I’m in charge, my clothes get washed first, so I’m never trying to do the sniff test on my underwear before I head to work on Monday mornings.

3. It can count as exercise. Sort of. Listen, it’s sad to admit this, but I’m getting to an age where walking from the 2nd floor to the basement with baskets of laundry several times a day counts as exercise. I’ll take what I can get.

4. It can be fun. My wife is very laid back about pretty much everything, except when it comes to towels. She likes them folded a certain way. About 15 years ago I tried to understand how a woman that can leave towels on the floor of the bathroom for days without noticing becomes incredibly anal retentive when it comes to HOW those same towels are folded in the linen closet when they’re clean.

It was a confusing seven minutes of my life that I hope never to repeat again.

Now, every Sunday, I fold the towels the way I want to fold them. And then I get to watch my wife re-fold them. It’s like our little inside joke, and it can be fun.

And yes, I’m at the point in my life where watching my wife get riled up about towels brings me joy.

5. My wife doesn’t want to do it. Her worst nightmare is being chained to the basement doing endless loads of laundry, and she’s way too creative (and busy working) to incorporate it as a part of her daily routine. It’s a win-win for us. She can have a productive Sunday, and I can watch TV for an entire afternoon without feeling any guilt.