Kids Clothes- Managed -Back To School

This is such a struggle for me. Every year it gets a little easier as the kids get pickier and have specific things they want.  The clothes! So much clothes! 

I grew up getting pretty much a whole wardrobe before school started and we kind of continued that.  As the kids have gotten older and I have become a fan of minimalism, that’s faded.  Don’t get me wrong, they still get a few things because it’s fun and there is usually some need between growth and damage.  

Before I even consider looking for clothes, I try and go through everything they have. Stuff they don’t love and I don’t love, goes. Stained, ripped or too small? It allll goes!  I don’t want to keep stuff in their drawers they are just going to skip over every day. 

Then I grab the bin of hand me downs/sale finds for the next size, whatever size they are growing into. Grab things from it that are weather appropriate and put things back in their drawers. 

We keep stuff that is more than 1 year out in the Laundry Room, and stuff likely to be needed soon is in the closet top shelf. I need to label these someway that isn't permanent. I'll add that to my Fall Deep Cleaning/Organizing. 

I like making a note of things they need, socks and underwear are almost always a guarantee, in my checklist app. I also add sizes for tops and bottoms because it can be easy to mix up with 4. It’s broken down by kiddo. I do this because sometimes I’ll find an unexpected deal while I am out and don’t want to grab the wrong size or socks for the wrong kid. 

And because our younger 2 are especially rough on clothes, I keep the new stuff in their backpack put up until the day before school. 

I don’t try to manage the teens clothes anymore, outside of making sure they aren’t keeping things they won’t be able to wear in public 🤪

For the younger 2, I have a rough list of what I like to keep for them. It looks about like this

7 underwear

7 socks 

3 pair jeans 

3 pair of other pants (joggers etc) 

7 T shirts

3-5 hoodies

3-6 pair of athletic shorts (older one needs a pair everyday for sports) 

1-2 pair casual shorts 

Church clothes 

3 pair pajamas 

1 jacket

1 heavier coat 

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