The boys have been begging. I finally said yes.
We finally pulled out all of our clothes and did the great switch from winter to summer clothes (leaving some sweats and jeans and sweatshirts in the closet just in case because packing all the warm clothes away is a sure way to make it snow).
Here’s what happens at our house:
I clean out and organize the boys’ closets twice a year. In the meantime…we receive boxes and bags of hand-me-downs. When this occurs…do I carefully sort and organize the clothing we receive?
Nope. I throw them into the back of a closet until unti the next biannual closet clean-out.
Why, you ask? Because I’m lazy like that. Because our clothing bins are in the attic making them hard to get to. Because we don’t need the clothes yet. Because I don’t want to. Because the clothes we receive are likely not to fit anyone yet anyway. And because organizing clothing twice a year for four growing boys is plenty for me.
This is what my camera captured when I turned on the flash then stuck
it into the back of the closet. That pile was several feet high.
We pulled it all out and it looked like this.
I asked Matt to bring our clothing containers down from the attic and the boys started pulling out all of their favorite shirts…and talking at once…and asking me loud questions like “will this shirt fit me this year?” and “oh can I have this one?”. Malachi was crawling all over me and into my well ordered piles and into the containers. It was a fun organizational moment. The kind that makes me want to not let them help me. But…I know they love helping me with this job, so I kept myself from screaming for Calgon to take me far, far away and let them go a little nuts for a while.
Two days and several hours later…the bottom of the closet is storing only sleeping bags. (Someone needs to take a broom to that floor.)
The clothing bins are now ready to go live in the attic again until the next time I feel like we need a little family insanity.
And…I was able to take a very full container of clothes to the clothing giveaway at church we hosted over the weekend.
What’s it like at your house when you sort through clothes during the changes of seasons? Have any closets that you need to clean out? (My boys would be happy to come and help you.)
You can go visit Tammy’s Recipes for more “Pile Clean Up” motivation.
we go through the same thing twice yearly with our four children In addition to that I also switch out my clothes as well. I through a HUGE bag of stained clothes away. I set aside several things I didn’t like for a garage sale and then moved all the bins back to our storage barn. Like you, I just set aside hand-me-downs that are given and mess with them 2 times a year. I guess I am lazy like that too ;-) We have used this system for years and I love it.
I too receive loads of hand me downs. My eight year old daughter loves to pull out the bags and try on everything to ensure she doesn’t miss any of the lovely clothes. Then she checks them all for stains etc and sorts them into piles according to whether they fit or going back in the bag until next year.
I also go through all the kids clothes, and while we sort, we use this opportunity to talk about using clothes from others as good stewardship of our money as well as looking after our clothes so that they can be passed on again. Lots of learning opportunities are right in front of us.
Julie
Ohhh, I’ve just finished doing this too. Except my kids hate trying things on. And are getting picky about how everything FEELS. Anyway, we’ve been blessed with mucho hand-me-downs, and I’m just happy that my kids still think they are great, and that ‘downstairs’ is just another place to go shopping. :)
I too do this twice a year. My son gets several hand-me-downs and enjoys “shopping” through the bags. Our sorting process is the same as yours – with my kids “helping” me as well. We definitely enjoy pulling out the summer clothes more than the winter ones. The t-shirts, shorts and swimsuites seem more “fun” (and they mark the beginning of summer break :)).
Oh do we have closets to clean out! I did my son’s a few weeks ago because I got some new shelves at a yard sale. I usually go through his clothes every few months.
Now, my daughter’s closet is another story. I never really organized it to begin with. She is 10 1/2 months and her closet is well overdue for a clean out. I still have my wedding dress in there!
I already have 3 huge bags full of clothes to giveaway just from 2 kids…can’t wait to get organized!
Ahhh, “ain’t life grand?” I am so glad we don’t have to do this here… ok, well we do but only to a certain extent. It is pretty much hot here year round with a slight chill for about 2 weeks around the New Year. We pull out jackets at that time and move on :-)
Great job, though… I am impressed
Wow, way to go! We only have our one daughter, but it’s the same here, just with a little less “stuff.” Great job!
I just cleaned out my kids’ closets/drawers. I am planning to post this next week on my blog. I had a three foot deep hallway of baby clothing to go through. I did find my daughter’s premie slippers…they were so tiny!
I love your pic of the bag with legs. So funny. Thanks for the post.
Abbie
Yes, that sounds very familiar! I can feel my blood pressure rising just thinking about it!
Yep, same system here! Lots of hand-me-downs to try on at the beginning of the season along with clothes from last year. In order to motivate the kids, they get to eat a goldfish/animal cracker every time they try on an item. (and turn it inside out and toss it back to me.) I do try to take out of the clean laundry anything that seemed to be getting too small throughout the season. It helps when making the transition from one season to next.
Whew! That is a huge project. My kids are much younger, but still love to “help”. Very nice job!
Love this story!! All of my son’s clothes go to his cousins(3 boys b/c he’s 9 and IF I have anoher boy I am not saving something for 10 years! My 2 yr old daughter’s clothes are now being worn by my 6 month old daughter. My two year old gets all her clothes from her older cousin and good friends who save all their clothes- I keep them all stored in those silly space saver bags in the loft of our shed- they are labeled by size. I also have a ton of my clothes up there- I was going to get rid of them but my husband thought I should keep some stuff for the girls for when they are older to play dress up and stuff- I have some pretty wild clothes(love vintage stuff)
Wow ! You did a great job.
Claudia
claudiafranson.blogspot.com
Holy smokes! That’s a lot of clothes and looks like a huge project to tackle…no wonder you only do it twice a year. Great job on completing the project and breathing a sigh of relief…and you can see the bottom of the closet! Success!!
We are luck enough to receive hand me downs too. I just finished the swapping thing last week! Oh the madness! Every single time I think, do they really need this much stuff?!?!
That is very impressive! We have as many kids and loads of hand-me-downs, but living in So. Cal we don’t have the seasons that you do. We have to have clothes for every weather for most of the year so we don’t do the attic/storage thing. Mostly we just have the almost fitting clothes boxes piled in the closets waiting to be switched around. Still, with four to organize, I can feel your pain…and the sense of accomplishment when you are done! Good job letting them help!
I’m like you, sorting clothes twice a year is enough.
Yep, about the same thing here. Send those boys right over — I have two closets that need some serious work!
I actually love to do the seasonal changeover of clothes. I love to purge the clutter and bless someone else with outgrown clothing. When the swimsuits come out in Michigan, it’s always a good thing — lol!
You did a great job! We desperately need to do this at our house.
Laura, I have 10 children(9 still at home), and my dear friend has 8. Each season, we call each other and commiserate together over the phone when we do the clothes exchange!! Luckily, my 18 yo son takes care of his own clothes. But from the 14 yo and down…man, the clothes. 4 girls and 4 boys to sort thru. And we do it just like you. Dawn
Unfortunately as my kids are growing up I don’t get to do this much anymore. My girls are 15 and wearing about the same size, and my 12 year old boy wears out most of his clothes before they can be handed down to his younger brother. Moving as much as we have, we don’t get many hand-me-downs either. This is the way I used to do it, but my kids did NOT enjoy it at all. Consider yourself lucky! :)
wow! looks like you all had fun!
With where we live, I only do this once a year. I don’t switch for the seasons, just keep it all out, and do the great tub switch/go through all the hand-me-downs in the fall. I dread it. The kids love it. =)
I’m just so thrilled to know that I’m not the only one who has “piles” of stuff. Thanks for being so human ;0)
Now I can go tackle my “piles” and not feel so bad.
LOVE your blog–it is one of my fav’s!!
Ummm, Laura, did you do this today?! :) Great job, but the challenge was for today, not last month. :) We could do a round-up of organization posts, but maybe some other time. :)
lol boys are all like that. They’re cute!
I actually love to do the seasonal changeover of clothes.