My 9 and 7 year old boys have approximately 10 "every day" shirts each. However they only like about 3 or 4 of them. (Who knew that boys were that particular about clothes.) Anyway, they shuffle through their stacks of shirts and some fall on the floor and some get wadded up in the back of their dresser, and the result is a very crabby mommy--when she puts clean laundry away.
So..............yesterday I put my foot down. I even told them I was putting my foot down. They looked a little nervous, but till it was all said and done I think they like the new system.
I pulled all their clothes out of their cupboard/dresser. I was washing their clothes yesterday--so I did this as I was folding the clean clothes. I sorted through them and saved out six or seven pairs of pants, and the same number of shirts--making sure that it included their "favorites".
Next I paired them together. Instead of having a stack of shirts, and a stack of pants I now had one stack of outfits. This wasn't hard to do because they mostly wear blue jeans, and so all their pants are interchangeable with all their shirts. Now they can pull a pair of pants, and a shirt out of their cupboard with very little effort.
There were no extra pants, but the extra shirts I plan to pass on to another family, or give to Goodwill. I've come to the conclusion that too many clothes do not make my life simpler. I do laundry several times a week--so this should not be a problem.
I'm curious, how do other moms handle the clothing monster? Am I being ridiculous to think my children only need 5 or 6 outfits each?
Absolutely NOT! My boys have limited clothes too! I can fit everything they have in one small dresser. By the time I got to #7, #8, & #9, I figured it out.....Now the big girls, that's another story!
ReplyDeleteMy solution was no dressers for the kids. Underwear is in a drawer in the bathroom....that way they put on a clean pair after their bath and the wet towel is not allowed to leave the bath. (it used to be on their bedroom floor) All shirts go on hangers to prevent drawer wrinkles. Jeans are folded and stacked on a shelf in their closet at a good height for them. Socks are in a basket beside the jeans. Might not work for some...but it does with us.
ReplyDeleteI like your idea, too....no guessing and no digging! :)
Betsy,
ReplyDeleteI like the sock basket idea. The sock/underwear drawer is my next area to attack. It's usually a jumbled mess too. Our bathroom has only a very small vanity in it--otherwise I would probably store undies in there too. :)
Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteI only have boys so I'm not sure WHAT I'll do if I ever have a girl. I know clothes are definately more important to them. :)
Great ideas! I've thought before about getting the rubbermaid drawers and labeling them for each day of the week - then I could put their outfit for the day in there. So far, I haven't done it and still not sure how practical it would be on weekends - school days might be the only time I'd use that option... Hmm... :)
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