I’ll admit it – I’m somewhat of a slob. Well, really more of a packrat. I can’t seem to throw anything away. So things are stacked and piled all over the house. This includes clothes, shoes, papers, and other miscellanea. I’m not the best housekeeper either. But if there’s one thing I hate, it’s laundry slobs.

In our house we have 4 hampers upstairs. One in each bedroom for clothes, and one in the kitchen for dirty towels and rags. Now, one would think that it wouldn’t be a Herculean feat when one undresses to go to the hamper, lift the lid, and toss the clothes inside when they’re removed.

But noooo. Everyone seems to think that clothing should be dropped to the ground where it is taken off. The poor hamper sits there empty and unfilled, until someone scoops up the clothes from all over the floor and drops it inside. That someone is me.

My husband has always been like this. In every place we’ve lived, I can’t get him to use the hamper, even though he’s a neat freak about everything else. Kitchen dirty? He’s mopping, cleaning counters, washing the dishes, wiping the table. Bathrooms bad? He’s picking up towels, cleaning toilets, and scrubbing the shower. Yard need work? He’s mowing, edging, and trimming. But putting clothes in the hamper? He just can’t do it.

Even when he’s undressing right in front of the hamper, the clothes drop to the floor. Or, sometimes, he puts them on top of the hamper on the lid. I don’t understand why he can’ t manage to lift the lid and put them inside. Maybe he’s too tired after work. Maybe it’s a guy thing.

Sometimes he leaves a trail of clothing from the side of the bed to the hamper. Underwear, socks, shorts, and shirt all lay a path to that thing he just can’t fathom. It’s like a trail of breadcrumbs that someone will follow behind and scoop up.

I’ve tried instructional lessons. In the bedroom, I’ll caress the hamper and say, “Honey?”

“Hmm.”

“Let me show you something.”

He’ll turn and look at me.

“This is called a HAMPER. Can you say that? Hammmm-purrrrrrr.”

“Hamper,” he’ll mumble.

“What?”

“Hamper,” he’ll say a little bit louder.

“It’s used to put clothes in after you wear them.”

“Huh,” he’ll say, and proceed to drop the clothes he’s removing onto the floor. I’ll scoop them up with a growl and he’ll put his hand on my arm to stop me.

“But I’m going to wear that again!” he’ll say.

“Ewww! No, you’re not!” And into the hamper they go. Judging by the amount of laundry actually in the hamper on wash day, I think he digs them out when I leave the room and stashes them under his side of the bed.

I’ve even tried putting a hamper right next to his side of the bed. So close to his side he has to trip over it when he gets up. Does he use it? Nope. The clothes fall to either side. It’s a rare day anything ends up inside.

My kids are picking up this bad habit as well, although my son is much worse than my daughter. What’s so hard about putting clothes in a hamper? Why do they need to be on the floor? I just don’t get it.

I’ve even tried not picking them up when I’m getting laundry together. Only clothes in the hamper get washed. Which means an awfully light laundry day for me. And then everyone except me is wearing dirty clothes.

Maybe it’s just me, but wearing something twice is icky. So there I go again picking up the clothes and putting them in the hamper.

Maybe it’s a guy thing. Or maybe I’m well trained. Either way, I hate laundry slobs.