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Sarah
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| Posted: Feb 15 2008 at 12:08pm | IP Logged
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I have decided that we have too many clothes and linens.
Has anyone ever pared down to several outfits/kid? I'm doing it nowbut feel a little nervous about it. Somehow all those clothes were a crutch (or so I thought).
However, now I realize they were all just a bunch of clutter.
What do you all think about quantity of clothing?
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Six boys ages 16, 14, 11, 7, 5, 2 and one girl age 9
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amyable
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| Posted: Feb 15 2008 at 1:06pm | IP Logged
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I *so* need to do this right now. I don't think I'm brave enough to go down to 3 outfits, but I need to bring it close. I need to make sure we have enough for me to skip a day (or two  ) of laundry though.
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Amy
mom of 5, ages 6-16, and happy wife of 
The Highly Sensitive Homeschooler
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SuzanneG
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| Posted: Feb 15 2008 at 1:37pm | IP Logged
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We did this about a year ago.....I didn't nec. GET RID of things, as there will be other girls wearing the same clothes, different seasons, sizes, etc. But, I drastically reduced the number of outfits each child has OUT in her dresser for that particular season. In the winter it's about 5. In the summer it's a couple more, because they get dirtier. Everyone has one church/event outfit.
It also depends on your laundry system...how often you do it, etc.
I do keep other misc. clothing out-of-reach for emergencies..like now when everyone has snot and vomit all over everything    
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Suzanne in ID
Wife to Pete
Mom of 7 (Girls - 14, 12, 11, 9, 7 and Boys - 4, 1)
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Michaela
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| Posted: Feb 15 2008 at 1:40pm | IP Logged
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We've pared down on EVERYTHING in our house. We've donated everything to charity or freecycle (which I doubt we'll ever use again, but that's another thread).
We were living under piles and piles of STUFF...I couldn't keep up or invite anyone over without major embarrassment. I just got in a mood & got rid of everything.
I can honestly say that I regret getting rid of so much.
Clothes...I couldn't go under five outfits.
We are very very ....VERY low on "stuff" around here. I was going to post asking about the bare minimum toys. Still might.
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Michaela
Momma to Nicholas 16, Nathan 13, Olivia 13, Teresa 6, & Anthony 3
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teachingmyown
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| Posted: Feb 15 2008 at 1:41pm | IP Logged
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This isn't hard for me. You wouldn't know it by looking at the pile of laundry on my couch, but my kids don't have that many clothes. At least, not that they wear. My problem is that I hold on to everything, thinking I need to keep it to pass it down. I am gradually overcoming that obsession.
I have mostly girls, so it is easy. They each have 3 play dresses (the younger 4 girls only wear dresses), a dress for Mass, and a couple of pairs of leggings. Two pairs of pajamas. There are a few pairs of pants and shirts that basically sit in a drawer for "emergencies". You know, those days when I didn't get the laundry done and someone doesn't have a clean dress.
My 11yr old dd would wear the same outfit everyday if I didn't make her change. She is very particular and finds it difficult to find comfortable clothing, so once she finds something she sticks with it. She does have a couple pairs of dressier pants and tops, and an outfit for Mass.
My 10yr old ds has 2 pairs of sweats, a pair of jeans and a pair of dressier cords. He has a ton of shirts from many baseball seasons. He has one pair of dress pants and one dress shirt.
The baby is unlimited.
So, it is really my clothing and dh's that would seem to make up the bulk of my piles. Dh coaches baseball and so he gets a new shirt, or two, every season. I recently counted the t-shirts hanging in his closet and he had 15! He didn't even believe me. But he has two pairs of jeans, one pair of sweats, and two pairs of dockers. Plus all his suits which are dry-cleaned.
For me, I only have a couple of pairs of pants and several different tops. (None of which fit my postpartum body yet!)
So, what is in that monstrous pile on the couch?
Anyway, my point is Go for it! The less they have, the less you wash and the more carpet you can see on the floor in their room. Or is that just my kids?
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In Christ,
Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
Remembering Today
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SuzanneG
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| Posted: Feb 15 2008 at 1:50pm | IP Logged
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Molly's description sounds similar to our clothes inventory....having only a few outfits OUT is not a problem, it's the getting rid of it that was. But, it's all baby steps....I've found that I'm much more likely to get things out of those bins and out of the house now that I know we can live with less. So, maybe that's the first step....just having a few outfits OUT.
For us too, the bulk of the laundry is hubbies work and workout clothes, as they're so big. We also have a "half-dirty" box (that's what my mom always called it) ....clothes that can be worn again, that aren't dirty, yet, but shouldn't be put back in the drawers. That cuts down drastically on laundry.
FIFTEEN t-shirts for dh, Molly????? I WISH!!!! I won't even tell you how many t-shirts dh has.....they are ALL FAVORITES! When I'm in the last trimester of preg. I can't even open those drawers without giving myself contractions.....
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Suzanne in ID
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Mom of 7 (Girls - 14, 12, 11, 9, 7 and Boys - 4, 1)
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JodieLyn
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Well, depending on the child... clothes will get a lot more wear when there's less of them. And with some kids.. that could mean needing to replace midseason, mid-size or even more often.
Like the time my oldest boy (then a good bit younger) came in from a bike ride.. having flipped over the handlebars and slid across gravel.. with a pretty scraped up arm and no knees left in a fairly new pair of jean.. and gravel indention in the front of the helmet. So we were replacing helmet and jeans.. but they did their job
Just I'd be reluctant to get rid of too much for those reasons.. I have a set size of box per size for clothing storage.. and that helps because I have to weed down to what will fit in the box.
BUT I am planning on weeding down what's available in the house.. as soon as I can manage to get caught up enough to be able to see what I'm doing
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
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Maryan
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| Posted: Feb 15 2008 at 3:46pm | IP Logged
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I do what Suzanne does... must be the same gender in a row thing!!
And Sarah, after Christmas, I need inspiration to weed out some extra clothes again... so this post and your blog post are motivating me!! 
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Maryan
Mom to 6 boys & 1 girl: JP('01), B ('03), M('05), L('06), Ph ('08), M ('10), James born 5/1/12
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Sarah
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| Posted: Feb 15 2008 at 4:17pm | IP Logged
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Michaela wrote:
I can honestly say that I regret getting rid of so much.
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What do you mean by this? You regret this? Please expand of this. . .  I'm afraid of regretting.
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Sarah
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| Posted: Feb 15 2008 at 4:19pm | IP Logged
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So, after what you all wrote, I should proabably hold on to these perfectly good clothes in case of mishaps, but keep them boxed and out of circulation.
Good plan! 
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teachingmyown
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SuzanneG wrote:
We also have a "half-dirty" box (that's what my mom always called it) ....clothes that can be worn again, that aren't dirty, yet, but shouldn't be put back in the drawers. That cuts down drastically on laundry.
FIFTEEN t-shirts for dh, Molly????? I WISH!!!! I won't even tell you how many t-shirts dh has.....they are ALL FAVORITES! When I'm in the last trimester of preg. I can't even open those drawers without giving myself contractions..... |
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My dh has a pile outside his closet that are his worn but not "funky" clothes. Meaning, I can wash them if I get around to it, but he is willing to wear them again. He isn't home much so usually he doesn't wear his "play" clothes long at all.
Okay, maybe 15 isn't a ton, but it sure seems like overkill to me.
One thing that I have found about hanging onto clothing is that the next child, or children, often don't end up wearing what I have kept. Either the season is wrong, or they just don't like it. This is especially true of my girls. My oldest is a tomboy and the rest all wear dresses. So, I had saved so much that now looks like it won't get used.
I am trying to detach and consider how the clothes I am holding onto would benefit someone else NOW. Part of that is trusting that when I have a need, God will provide, which He always has. Something about big families makes people want to give you enormous bags of clothing! We get more clothes from families with two kids then all my kids wear combined.
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In Christ,
Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
Remembering Today
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Matilda
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Quote:
One thing that I have found about hanging onto clothing is that the next child, or children, often don't end up wearing what I have kept. Either the season is wrong, or they just don't like it. This is especially true of my girls. My oldest is a tomboy and the rest all wear dresses. So, I had saved so much that now looks like it won't get used.
I am trying to detach and consider how the clothes I am holding onto would benefit someone else NOW. Part of that is trusting that when I have a need, God will provide, which He always has. Something about big families makes people want to give you enormous bags of clothing! We get more clothes from families with two kids then all my kids wear combined. |
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This was a lesson I didn't learn until #4. I had saved all of my oldest son's clothes for that next little boy who didn't arrive until 7 years later at the opposite season and much larger than his big brother! Most of those clothes got donated at once. We kept just a small box of sentimental items.
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Charlotte (Matilda)
Mom to four (11, 10 , 9 & 5 ) an even split for now
with bookend boys and a double girl sandwich
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chicken lady
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I did this last summer. I just freaked out one day and went crazy throwing things away. It was and is very freeing. When I unloaded I was able to figure out what we really needed. I know we could get rid of more clothes, I am still working on it But for now I am on to ridding us of movies, CD's and twaddle books. I am up to 15 boxes waiting to be donated to Freecycle.
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mandmsmom2001
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| Posted: Feb 19 2008 at 4:41pm | IP Logged
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I had a similar freakout just before Thanksgiving. DH still has a lot more clothes than he needs and I'm still working on him to pare down but it is ultimately his decision.
I got rid of anything that didn't fit me, didn't look good on me or was just time to let go of. I shared with a freind who is smaller than me and she kept a bunch and then I passed the remainder on to our music teacher (young, broke). Made donations there after to charity. I have a very sparse wardrobe now and could use some socks and another pair of pants.
I did the same for the kids with different criteria - stained, worn out items just "went away." Outgrown from #1 were boxed for #2 as they are only 1-2 sizes apart now. #2's outgrown went to a freind who was thrilled when I showed up with 4 boxes of toddler clothes! Warm weather clothes were boxed up by size to send to my SIL in FL. A few remaining items were donated to charity.
They now have 2 church outfits including dress socks, and about 5 regular outfits. They both do sports so we have the specialty stuff too - long underwear, soccer shorts and uniform, etc. They both still have too many pairs of pajamas.
I do not regret it for one moment! It forces me to stay up on laundry and I have less of it.
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JodieLyn
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When I do have a larger gap I do cut way down on what's saved.. but since the clothes we often are given are still big or between children.. and we have almost no options in town for used clothing (and next larger town is 2.5 hrs away).. we've found it to be very beneficial to save off season and unused size clothing.
But you can also see from my signature line that many of my kids are very close together.
So I think it can be beneficial either way.. either passing on quickly or saving.. it really depends on your particular circumstances.. and if you're saving out of fear (of not having things) or out of prudence (you were given good things they just need to be put away until the kids are ready for them).
I'll be doing a big clearing out here soon.. sifting down what's out... But also come spring, I don't believe my middle girls will both still be in their current size next fall which means there's a HUGE surplus of that size in winter clothes.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
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Topic: Drastic laundry decision
