Thinking, thinking…

I checked my bins and they are mostly 18-gallon Sterilite totes. I bought mine at my local Walmart and they have lasted forever. I am thinking of moving most of the kids up to the next size bin though — so that their coats and jackets, shoe boxes, etc will fit in there along with the clothes.

As far as knowing whether I have enough… well, I guess I am comfortable with not knowing for sure. That is probably not a good thing, is it? I do try to think a couple of seasons ahead when we go through each child’s bin. So for example, when we changed out their clothes for this winter, I took notes for each child covering: 1) what else they need now, for this winter; 2) what they will probably need for this coming spring/summer; and 3) what I think they may need for *next* fall/winter (although that is a little far out to judge growth spurts etc).

I keep these notes with me all the time in my purse and watch for good deals when I am out shopping. Sometimes we get hand-me-downs from other families and my lists help me to keep what we will need and pass on the rest to someone else. And often a quick check in the bin (or drawer) of the child just a little older lets me know that such-and-such an item will be ready to pass down and so I don’t need to write it on the needs list.

Also — I find that my kids wear the same few things over and over again (I think you mentioned yours do too) and that they really don’t need all that many outfits. I actually had to make a rule that they couldn’t wear the same exact thing every day of the week, no matter how much they like it. I find I am constantly purging and giving away because they just have more than they need or will actually wear.

One more benefit to this system is that it is easier for my older children to be responsible for part of the process. I have everyone over about 8 yrs old do the preliminary sorting through their own current clothes and their bin before I come to help, looking for things that are too small etc.

It has gotten a little tricky knowing what to save from the current baby — because there is no one younger yet. So I have been just keeping a box of first year stuff for a girl, and a box of first year stuff for a boy. I already use the larger size bin for this (30 gallon, I think?) and I guess we’ll see if that ends up working out or not.

Anyway this has gotten really long! Sorry about that. Hope it helps a little! Maybe I’ll be able to find that link…

How much large are those bins? How do you know if you have enough summer or winter items, or enough of size 18 months and not enough of size 2.

I can see how this might work better and am seriously considering a switch, I’d just like to know a few more particulars.

Thanks!

I used a clothing system like this for years but recently switched to a one-bin-per-child system instead of several bins covering every size and gender between the ages of 13 and infant. I like the new system better b/c there aren’t nearly as many bins of clothes to try to manage.

Each child has a generously sized rubbermaid or similar bin with their name on it that holds all the clothes they are not currently using that will fit them someday. If something no longer fits a child when we do the seasonal clothing swap, and it is still in good shape, it gets passed to the next child of the same gender. That child may not wear it for a couple of years but it is in their box waiting for them.

This way my dh can just go to the shed and pull out the bins by name (only for a couple of children at a time or it gets overwhelming). Before we started doing it this way I was constantly dealing with 2 or 3 bins per child — for example the current toddler might fit in the 18 mth stuff, but some of the clothes from the 2T bin may work as well.

I love your “going shopping” idea!

An idea for bulky winter clothing is to get those flat storage bags that can have the air vacuumed out of them… I’ve just used sturdy trash bags (white and labeled) with lots of children sitting on them to squish the clothing, then tied them quickly before the air gets back in. You can also just tightly roll up a bulky winter jacket like sleeping bag and tie some string around it – it just has a lot of fluff and stuff.

Blessings,
Kimberly

Off to clean up the dropped oatmeal!!