Drowning under kid clothes

[knitlove]

I know this has been discussed before but what is a reasonable amount.

Today I found my self dreaming of how Anne, in Anne of Green Gables, had 3 dresses 5 aprons, and two night gowns and that was it.

We have been blessed with hand me downs but they are swamping me.

I need to throw stuff out.

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[MegMarch]

I think reasonable just varies by family, and even by person. You want to take into account laundry habits, how hard your kids are on stuff, special activity and even stuff...

I start by weeding out anything that fits weird or is just unattractive or a pain to launder. After that, see if stuff works with other pieces in the wardrobe. A cute tunic with no leggings to go with means either buying leggings or getting rid of the tunic.

[knitlove]

In theory I do not want any more than 12 outfits total. With some of this being dressie and some simply play but most things being generally accepted.



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[Aerynne]

I have found 12 outfits total to be a great number (and I only do laundry weekly- if you did it more you could have less).

Throw out all the things!! (well, all the other things)

I also have one box per size/gender in my garage all lined up on shelves and labeled in 100-point font. It's a system that helps a lot. That's for clothes that are not currently fitting anyone.

I also try to stick to plain stuff that goes with everything- lots of black or navy pants, khakis, and jeans and then the shirts can be whatever they want (that's where we add the fun in for those who like fun, which isn't everyone in my family) and plain shoes that go with everything. For example I only buy dress shoes in black or white and for girls' sneakers I avoid red and pink (because whichever it is doesn't go with the other one) and stick to neutrals.

[CelticJourney]

Can you sell at a consignment sale? By 'throwing them out' I assume you mean 'donate them', yes?

[marbles]

I say it has to fit in their drawers. They each have multiple drawers but when they get overflowing, we choose what goes. Donated items are not seen by anyone but me most of the time so I can just pull out the stuff they will like.

[knitlove]

Originally Posted by CelticJourney

Can you sell at a consignment sale? By 'throwing them out' I assume you mean 'donate them', yes?

There aren't consignment sails up here. And yes I mean donate them to good will.


I do a fairly good job of curating there clothes so that everything goes together.

And each girl has a bin in the closet of things that should fit in the early fall and next summer.

I think am mainly just tires of dealing with clothes. I spend way too much time interact with laundry I feel.

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[Aerynne]

Originally Posted by knitlove

There aren't consignment sails up here. And yes I mean donate them to good will.


I do a fairly good job of curating there clothes so that everything goes together.

And each girl has a bin in the closet of things that should fit in the early fall and next summer.

I think am mainly just tires of dealing with clothes. I spend way too much time interact with laundry I feel.

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Keeping the amount of clothing they own to a minimum helps tremendously IME.

[knitlove]

I haven't bought them clothes ( with the exception of Easter dresses) in well over a year. We got a tun of hand me downs, Wich is good, I just need to curate them better.

Thanks for helping me not feel crazy.

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[marbles]

It's not just you! I hate hate hate dealing with clothes that don't fit. I'm not good at it plus we have basically no storage. Someone just gave me big bags of clothes three sizes too big for my son and they are going straight to Goodwill.

[Soliloquy]

It has to fit. If I find myself (or my kids) DREADING putting away laundry, that means there's too much. My 11 yo has less than a week's worth of clothes. He does his laundry about every 4 days. That's how he likes it.

[knitlove]

Originally Posted by Soliloquy

It has to fit. If I find myself (or my kids) DREADING putting away laundry, that means there's too much. My 11 yo has less than a week's worth of clothes. He does his laundry about every 4 days. That's how he likes it.

Yes this is going to be one of our issues.


Early bird(8) will not/ can not put clothes away in any reasonable fashion. Wiggle worm(4) does way better.

I think I can get it all finished off in about 10 min in the morning, and then I can ask dh to out the bins up for me.

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[RealLifeMama]

I hate this feeling. What I really hate is feeling ungrateful for the stuff that people give us. I feel awful, because they want to bless us, but I feel buried. We have no storage space in our house.

As far as current clothes go, one thing that has helped is that my kids each have a laundry day once a week. I pretty much was able to see what was getting worn on a regular basis, and if it was always still in the drawer or on the rack after a couple of weeks, I was able to get rid of it. They pretty much gravitate to the same stuff week after week.

[MegMarch]

Originally Posted by RealLifeMama

I hate this feeling. What I really hate is feeling ungrateful for the stuff that people give us. I feel awful, because they want to bless us, but I feel buried. We have no storage space in our house.

.

FWIW, I give friends DD's old things. I do it because I want to bless them and because I want it out of my house. I offer the chance for them to look through and let me donate the rest at a thrift shop or they can have it all. I'm happy for them to do what works for them with whatever I give. One friend had a garage sale and sold a lot of it. I wished I was willing to do that but really, I just want it gone. So please, no stress about about not using all or any of what others give you.

[ECingMama]

Originally Posted by MegMarch

FWIW, I give friends DD's old things. I do it because I want to bless them and because I want it out of my house. I offer the chance for them to look through and let me donate the rest at a thrift shop or they can have it all. I'm happy for them to do what works for them with whatever I give. One friend had a garage sale and sold a lot of it. I wished I was willing to do that but really, I just want it gone. So please, no stress about about not using all or any of what others give you.

Yes, this. I asked a friend to come over and look through the stuff and only take what she wants and that I'll donate the rest.

My sis and I just went through the 0-3 month boy clothes. We are donating one 18 gallon tub worth. Of 0-3 month clothes. That's obnoxious. There is still a whole tub left!

My son wears whatever is on top, so if I do the laundry in a timely fashion, he wears the same stuff over and over. That means we need to have about 10 outfits. 7 for the week, plus 3 for necessary changes that sometimes happen. He is much happier with that amount. My dd likes a bit more variety in her shirts, but less is more, for sure.