I wanted had to figure out a way to keep nice clothes separate - but accessible and organized because we do need them regularly- from the clothes I have for rolling around in the dirt, because that's what my kids really look like most of the time now. Here's what I did:
My big girls have two and a half drawers each on a tall dresser that stores their clothes and also a spot in the closet for hanging items. I try not to have too many clothes for them but frankly, I love buying clothes for the girls and it's something I only get to do for a little while longer, so for now I give myself freedom to buy what I love when I see it for a reasonable price. So I took everything out of the dresser drawers, and declared one drawer for each girl as ALL her "town clothes" and one drawer for all the play clothes and pajamas. Then the fifth, shared drawer has each girl's underwear, socks, tights, swimsuits etc. It's working like a charm!
To keep it smooth, I just quickly pull out the occasional town outfit from each load of laundry (I have to sort mine and Jesse's out anyway) and put those back in the town drawer, and the girls fold and put away their own play clothes and I don't care HOW those drawers look since I never have to dig around in them in moments of stress to find the cute leggings that would match that Sunday dress! It makes packing for out of town trips a breeze too! I know I will be able to find clothing acceptable for when we speak at churches or visit family for special events! The girls seem to know not to mess around with the tidy drawers of town clothes and I think the like having those clothes ready for when we need them, and when I sorted everything originally I stuck a few "new" $1 shirts and shorts from Goodwill in the play clothes drawer so they didn't just feel like I took out all the cute stuff and left them with the boring old stuff for everyday use.
Rosie has a different small dresser and all her play clothes are in her drawers as always - I just took the town clothes out and folded them into the cupboard of that same dresser.
No more overstuffed drawers, no more yelling-frustrated mom trying to help a child find a clean unstained, unripped outfit when it's time to go to town or pack a suitcase! Such a small change but with a daily impact: I love not having to send a child back downstairs to change when they inevitably come up in the morning wearing the adorable new outfit from Grandma on a day they're going to run like banshees through the field or dig in the garden or become covered in sap from tree-climbing...
Do you have this same problem? Have you found a different solution that you like better? If not, maybe you want to try this simple solution!
I love to organize and move things around for the ultimate efficiency. I guess while my kids were little their play clothes were in drawers and anything resembling a church clothes or nice clothes hung in the closets. That system seemed to work out for us.
ReplyDeleteIf you like kid lit, anything by Brandon Mull is really fun (Fable Haven, Candy Shop Wars, Beyonders and Five Kingdoms), and The Wingfeather Saga is great, by Andrew Peterson.
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