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To many people, summertime means the beach, the pool, swimming and togs (bathers for those outside Queensland)

It certainly does for me as well.

But to parents, it also means wet, soggy towels left lying around EVERYWHERE!.

“Whose towel is this?” I ask daily.

Of course, to steal a few lyrics from Taylor Swift, it’s never, ever, ever anyone’s towel.

These multiplying towels miraculously appear:

-in the bathroom

-in the laundry

-hanging across balconies (although hanging is a word I use generously. It’s more a case of luck that it landed on the railing when it was thrown outside, than consideration for the drying process)

-on the back of chairs

-on the kitchen table

-left in my car

-left in the garage

-left in bedrooms

EVERYWHERE.

It’s like the reverse of the disappearing sock, when you can never find the matching pair, towels seem to clone in different colours and appear EVERYWHERE.

So I have resorted to drastic action.

But first let me justify this drastic action.

I have three girls playing waterpolo, two in two different teams. So aside from the gereral run-of-the mill towel usage for swimming and school sport, not to mention showering, these girls would go to a pool at least 15 times a week.

Of course, every time a new towel is taken, and of course every time one is left lying around somewhere, it’s never, ever, ever anyone’s.

So back to this drastic action.

I have locked my towel cupboard!

I gave the girls two towels each, noted which ones they chose, then locked up the rest.

I am not really holding my  towels to ransom, just trying to minimise some very unpleasant screaming matches. (Not that I ever, ever scream)

That, however is not the parenting tip.

For the first few weeks, after the big lock-up I couldn’t work out why there were still so many towels lying around on balconies and in bathrooms.

It wasn’t until I went to get a towel for myself that I unlocked a mystery of my own.

I realised that by stretching the loops on the lock I could open the cupboard to almost full capacity and take any towel I wanted.

Instead of screaming, I laughed loud and long.

“We wondered when you were going to work that out!” came the joyous, gleeful calls of kids who have out-witted their parent.

So folks if you want to limit your linen make sure the loops of the lock are tightly wound around the handle.

Oh and without getting into it too much, another tiny tip.

Make sure you remember the combination. (I will never, ever, ever forget it again)

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  • Hilarious!! The dreaded full machine of towels wash, hanging them all out is the worst.
    I laughed at the bathers clarification. I was raised in Perth and married a sunny coast guy living in Qld and always shudder at the term togs. Qld’ers have the most interesting jargon the rest of the country have (rightfully!) not adopted.

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  • ha ha i think that i am sick of washing towels everyday when they are perfectly fine to be hung up for a few more uses lol

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  • Thanks for sharing this article; enjoyed reading.

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  • DD has a habit of just throwing the towels on the floor, I might take your lead and lock them up.

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  • A different take on being a minimalist I guess!

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  • I read something similar on a mums blog she said everyone has 1 set of bed linen so it makes her wash it daily and dry it as to get it back on the bed that same day and also everyone has 1 towel so part of their routine is to hang it up after each shower other wise they just keep going through the pile LOL.

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  • I know we have a pool and I’m sure they get a new towel every time they get in. This story gave me a chuckle, I can imagine the look on your face,

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  • What a great read. Will keep in mind when my son grows up

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  • Lock on the towel cupboard lol! You should probably invest in a bank safe.

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  • ha ha ha sneaky darn children, you are going to have to come up with a better solution than that loopy lock mum, other wise these children will really send you loopy. lol. Thanks for sharing and providing a laugh.

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  • lol. love it. mums are super

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  • that is so funny, could just imagine her at the cupboard…….hilarious

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  • My kids have three specific towels each they keep to so I know exactly who’s left their towel on the floor. I only wash what is in the washing basket not on the towel. So if they want clean towels at least they need to pop them into the washing basket.

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  • Always finding towels on the floor and in swimming bags

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  • The multitude of unforeseen parenting woes!

    Reply

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