I went through this - well, I can only describe it as an "Ordeal"- three times in an attempt to understand the point of it all, and I just get more confused with each viewing:
At first, I thought that this woman is just doing what so many women in fabric softener/detergent/air freshener commercials do: Celebrating the absolute joy that comes with using a product that results in soft clothes and (especially) a fresh scent. I think it's been a theme of detergent ads since the 1950s that it's possible to fall madly in love with clean, soft clothes to the point where it's the highlight of any suburban prince or princess's day to jam one's nose into the laundry.
This theory seemed to be confirmed by Dad's "your mother really loves Downy" remark to Son. Both members of the house are taking this in stride; while they are watching tv or whatever mom is dancing about the house singing her own version of Total Eclipse of the Heart and having her own idea of a wild time. Whatever floats her boat and at least she's not complaining about doing laundry.
But then she throws dad's shorts into his face and tells him "honey, please do your own laundry..." um, say what? If that's their kid, these people have been together for quite some time. What is this guy doing with his shorts that convinced her to suddenly announce that she's no longer going to be doing the laundry we have to presume she's been doing for a decade or more? What else is she not going to be doing? Also, the indications were that she enjoyed doing laundry. What happened? Do I even want to know?
And how is Dad going to react to this? Certainly by this stage in the relationship, the family has settled into a routine and everyone knows what chores they are responsible for. Now mom has changed that up- again, WHY exactly? And what does "rinse it out" even mean? Is this an alternative to actually washing Dad's shorts? If so, where is he supposed to "rinse them out?"
Excuse me for saying so, but Dad should just toss the shorts back to his wife and reply "um, no. There's no 'my shorts,' 'your shorts' and 'the kids' shorts.' There's just OUR SHORTS- and OUR CLOTHES. When any item of clothing is in the hamper, just put it along with the rest of the clothes in the washing machine, please. And when it comes out of the dryer, feel free to do a little dance if that's what flips your skirt- but please don't throw clothes into my face and make demands in front of our kid again. I told our son that you love Downy, not that you're a lunatic I stay with because this is California and I don't want to lose half my income in a divorce settlement. You could at least reciprocate by not emasculating me in front of him."
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