Back to School Challenge
Day 5: The Closet
Hint: Print this list off and bring it into your child's bedroom.
 Are there skeletons in your closet? Today we are going to find out. We keep our kids' clothes in the closet. Both their current clothes and their off-season clothes. As well, they keep some of their hobby supplies and board games in their closet. It is the floor of the closet that usually looks the worst. That is where I always start.
Also today, you will need your kids around to try on which clothes still fit, and which ones need to be passed down or tossed out. Bring a piece of paper with you so you can write down how many pants, shirts, underwear, socks, etc you end up with. This will help you decide whether or not you actually have to go out and buy new back to school clothes. You may be able to wait a few more months...
Let's get started...The Checklist
- Quickly make up the bed or ask your child to do it. Check the space on the desk. Is it still clear? If not, is the project still cobweb free? How about the floor? Do you have room to work on? You are going to need some floor space to tackle the closet.
- For today, you are going to need your trash bag, and the bag or box to use for clothes that your little ones have outgrown (or will never wear again).
- Start on the floor of the closet. Pull out each item one at a time. Again, be tough. Trash is trash!
- Now, this is the fun part. Let the modeling begin! When you come across clothes that you are not sure still fit your child, let them put them on and model them for you. Play along, clap and cheer. Clothes that are too small get passed down to the next child or added to the box. If they are so torn or ratty that no child will ever wear them again, just put them into the trash.
- Fall and school clothes that are kept are folded and placed onto the bed. Summer clothes that are kept are folded and placed onto the floor.
- Continue until you get the floor of the closet empty.
- Then move up to the hanger rod in the closet. Go through all those clothes one by one exactly the same way.
- Then move up to the next shelf, and so one until the entire closet is empty. You should have a pile of folded clothes on the bed, a pile of folded clothes on the floor, some clothes on hangers, and some clothes in the toss pile. Extra toys, games, and things that belong in the closet are set aside for now.
- Sweep the floor or vacuum the carpet.
- Wipe down the shelves.
- Time to restock the closet. Start with the clothes that go on hangers.
- Now for the hard part. It is still between seasons. Your child needs both summer clothes and back to school clothes handy. I usually put about 1/2 of each out into their usable space. The rest of the summer clothes go onto the top shelf. And the rest of the back to school clothes goes on the middle shelf. When summer is really over, the rest of those clothes go up to the top shelf and I bring down the rest of the back to school clothes. I have found that when my kids have access to all their clothes all at once, all those clothes will end up crumpled in the laundry - and I never saw any one actually wear them! Less clothes means less laundry in my home!
- Do your kids have a hard time choosing what to wear in the mornings? Do they go through several outfits (leaving them crumpled on the bed) before they select the one that is just right? Do they have a panic attack when their "favorite" shirt hasn't been washed yet and is still in the laundry? Take a good look at how many clothes your kids actually have. The fewer clothes they have, the easier it will be for them to choose. I limit each kid to about 4 or 5 pairs of pants, about 6 shirts, a couple sweaters, about 10 pairs of socks and underclothes, and three pairs of pajamas. They also have two or three outfits for dressy occasions. And that is it.
- If you have many well meaning friends who pass on their hand-me-downs, pick out the clothes that will actually be worn by your family, but will not overwhelm them, and then pass the rest of those hand-me-downs onto another family.
- Finish packing up the closet and you are done! Did you find any skeletons?
Whew! I bet that was a project you were dreading. Congratulations on getting it done. I have actually filled large black garbage bags to the top when I go through my children's closets. It gets easier each time. Tomorrow, we do the dresser.
Take care of you!
Cindy
Go to Back to School Challenge - Day 6
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