Last summer, in an effort to simplify our family life, I purged all but eight outfits per kid.
It worked. When the kids know that Laundry Day happens once a week, and that they only have enough outfits to wear one per day, they are not quite as likely to put on a different shirt when they get home from swimming.
Not quite.
I would love to do it again, but we will be gone for 10 days in the first two weeks of summer. Eight outfits and ten days . . . even a Theatre-teacher-type can do that math.
Yes, I could do laundry on vacation. But I don’t want to HAVE to do laundry on vacation.
For now, I’m planning to purge down to ten outfits per kid.
Or . . . buy more so they each have ten outfits.
Which is the point of this post. I have no idea how many summer clothes my kids have. It’s laundry day and my daughter’s drawers are empty. This should mean that she has one week’s worth of clothes.
Except that she tends to change several times a day.
I know. This drives some people crazy. All that extra laundry!!! It probably would drive me crazy, but I often change two to three times a day myself, and so it seems perfectly normal. (Yet another example of how normal is quite the relative term.)
And . . . the boys wear uniforms to school, so they’ve only been wearing their summer clothes on the weekends.
Today . . . is all about the count. Shirts and tops and undies and socks. How many do we have and how many do we need?
And do you know what I’m most excited about? The thought of getting rid of outfits 11 through ???
For the girl who resists to-do-lists and gets a headache just thinking about deadlines, I do love a limit. It cuts out all of the “what-ifs” and lets me see things clearly.
If I have to choose, the little-stain-that-maybe-no-one-will-notice becomes the little-stain-that-helps-me-make-my-decision.
DannielleSB says
Hey Noni!
How about instead of ten outfits. How about 8 shorts/capris/pants. And 10 tops? And take some tide to go (or soap), in case of a spill on the bottoms? So one bottom piece can be worn twice. OR… the child can worn 2 outfits twice. Just a few thoughts, just thinking out loud. I'm not to the point of purging down to select few outfits. So I really don't know if this would be feasible for your family.
Nony the Slob says
Thanks for the thinking-out-loud Danielle, I love brainstorming. After counting, that may be what we have to do for the boys especially. My only issue is that I'm expecting that we'll be pretty sweaty every day, since we'll be at DISNEY WORLD!!! I know how I feel after a day at an amusement park, and I can't really handle the thought of putting something that nasty back on.
Elizabeth says
Oooooo! I love this idea! I'm looking forward to hearing about the results! I was just thinking today about how I need to simplify the kids' clothes.
April says
i NEED to do this also…now ask me if i want to 😛
Sara says
To Danielle's point – I personally absolutely have less shorts than shirts and just mix and match. However, I'm learning with a three year old boy, that is just not feasible. He's just so caked in dirt every day from playing hard. I'd rather let him get dirty and own more shorts for him. I'm with you Noni – one outfit for every day. I prefer to cap at 7-8 days, but that is because I don't have a trip planned. Our reason is different though. He's our first and that is all I can afford to buy. A limit helps me be smart and shop sales and know when to say no to the cutest outfit ever that we just don't need.
Kerrie McLoughlin says
brilliant! there are days when i swear my girls change clothes 10 times! and my boys could wear the same exact thing for 10 days straight! hmmm, the space i could have if each of my kids only had 10 outfits ………
kathy marquis says
I love all theese ideas i have 2 girls 4 and 7. So far we dont change clothes all the time unless they are filthy. I assume that will change. However we have to much. I think i will.try that 8 outfit thing and see how it works. It will be hard.
Dana White says
It was easier than I thought it would be!