These next few weeks are about action and Taking Care of Business for a lot of parents, myself included. So I am keeping these next few posts simple.
Do-able.
Positive.
Pared down and drama-free.
Just like back-to-school time should be!
So let’s do this!
First things first, friends. Clothes. Reviewing the current, and shopping for the new.
- Before tackling the clothes / closet review, do all the laundry and put it all away. Yes. All of it. Away. And if you say – “All of it? THERE’S TOO MUCH!”, then that’s an indicator that this project can reap big benefits for you! And if you say “AWAY? We don’t have an AWAY for all the clothes!” then that, too, indicates that this project is extremely overdue.
- Next, clear a couple hours on the schedule, for you and your children (each child individually). Make sure you’re both rested and fed. Don’t start this at 10 pm, or right before lunch. Turn on some fun music, grab a pad of paper to write down items to purchase, and get at it.
- Make the bed, and then cover it with a clean white sheet – it can be great work space for sorting.
- Pick a starting spot, and begin. DO NOT TAKE OUT EVERYTHING AT ONCE! Tackle a dresser drawer or a single closet shelf at a time. Better yet, address a single category of clothes at a time. All the shorts or pants or skirts or shirts, etc. Do not try to tackle everything at once!
- As you work through the clothes, purge items that are: too big, too small, old or beyond repair, off-season, etc. Label and store the off-season and too-big items, and donate, sell or hand down the too-small or too-old items.
- Do an initial quick review, and purge everything that YOU KNOW fits into the above descriptions (items that are too small, too stained, too icky, etc.).
- Now, have your kids try everything else on. Yes, everything. Use the criteria listed above when you review the clothes.
- I have teenagers, so I also need an “I’ll never actually wear this” pile. I find this frustrating, but since my sons aren’t overly picky or materialistic, I respect their choices. I have also declared that I will never buy clothes for my sons without them with me again. I don’t want to waste the time or money of buying clothes they won’t wear.
- Make a list of items that your kids need for the school year and new season. (If you need a suggested list, http://peaceofmindpo.com/2010/08/05/that-age-old-ritual-back-to-school-clothes-shopping/ ). I went through my own closet, too, and got rid of an old and tattered pair of pants and dressy skirt, among other things. I won’t wear them again, but I will need to replace them so I added those items to my personal shopping list.
- Put away the clothes you are keeping (for more ideas, check my past blog articles), and deliver the purged items to their destination. And then go do something fun!
You CAN do this! And enlisting your child in the process teaches them organizational skills they can use for life.