Living in Indiana has it’s benefits. The fall clothing switch in my opinion is NOT one of them. If it did not get so cold here in November my kids could still be spotted in shorts and short sleeve shirts…possibly. I’m just saying that dragging out all of the boxes of different sizes of clothes is not my favorite way to spend the day.
Leave it to me to try and be quicker and time efficient with the switch. That is one good quality of impatience, I’m always trying to cut corners on time. Not quality, just time. If you have children that grow (most do) then here is what will help you make the clothing switch easier.
As you go, weed out clothes that may not be your favorite or your childs. Also be realistic on what and how much they need. If relatives have been generous with hand me downs, plus the oldest child had several hand me downs there is no need to keep it all. My estimate per child because I only do laundry 2x’s per month is 9 pants and 12 shirts.
Quick Ways To Switch Seasonal Clothes:
- Print off a clothing chart to use for each person in the house. Laminate it, or make copies to re-use. As the clothing bins are pulled out work from oldest to youngest, mark the sizes, mark the chart and hand the clothes to the kids to put away.
- Organize the bins by size. Starting with the oldest always helps me to see what I will need to be buying in the near future and add to my budget.
- Set the timer for each child. This helps me to stay on track. If I try to keep it at 30 min. or less per child then we are that much closer to being done. THEY are that much closer to playtime so I remind them of this when complaints roll in.
- Give them responsibility for this task of switching out clothes. If kids get to pick and try on what they want within reason and take a few that they do not want it teaches compromise. It may also help them to take better care of the clothes they picked out. Then put the rest of the clothes up.
Organizing and creating a system is part of the battle. As the old saying goes ” many hands make light work”. Older children can check bins and write on the clothing chart. Younger children can put lids on the bins. Try to work it together as a family so everyone can go do something fun!
I post lots of great ideas on Facebook to help moms save time, save money and save their sanity!
[ulp id=’ssde6yS4YhWaN3SS’]
Cheers,
Michelle
Leave a Reply