My dear friend Ashley reminded me of some details about the boys clothing that I intended to talk about anyway, so I’m adding this as an addendum to Make It Simple (2). 🙂
I try so hard to keep the boys clothes to a minimum! Hand-me-downs from my sister and gifts from grandparents enable me to spend fairly little on the boys’ wardrobes, and I am grateful for that. The more clothes they have, the more we go through on a weekly basis, so I try to have just a few pairs of pants and just over a week’s worth of shirts, per size. Short sleeves in the summer, long sleeves in the winter, a couple of jackets, and we’re good to go! The boys also share socks, and I am committed to only buying them basic white socks that require no sorting!
I try to get a couple of wears out of tops before they are washed; however kids will be kids, and that probably only happens half the time. I do usually manage to pull this off with their bottoms. (Do you think this is weird?) Obviously, I am all about doing less laundry! I wash their clothes once a week.
Feel free to share what the laundry situation is like with your kids—I’d be very interested!
Oh, I would love to let my kids wear their clothes a few times before washing – I do laundry all the time!! But I happen to be mother to the world's messiest eaters (all 3 of them!), so alas, I keep on folding that laundry.:)
cate @ wildruffle.com
Oh man, Olivia wears all pants and leggings until they are visibly dirty. If, at the end of the day, they are free of obvious dirt? They go right back into her drawers. That being said, they usually only make it to three, mayyybe four wears maximum, before they need to be washed. I wash her shirts with basically every wear, however. She rarely keeps them clean enough to hang back up!
I love this blog. You are so intelligent and well-spoken (well-written?). I love to read about your ideas; thanks for sharing them!
Thanks, Cate! My kids are pretty messy eaters too, especially the two-year-old, but thankfully, I can still get him to wear a bib! The real problem is wiping his hands and face before he runs to wipe them on the couch! 🙂
Thanks, jeni! I imagine girls' laundry would be a little different than boys. I know if I had a girls I would probably have way more clothes! Boys things don't as often come as coordinated outfits. But I'm glad I'm not the only one who has their kids' wear things until noticeably dirty!
We have two baskets in the kids' room — "wear again" and "laundry." If it isn't horribly dirty, it goes in the wear again basket and they wear it again the next day. I sometimes keep dirty clothes near the door if it's muddy out that they can put on and play in again, so that we don't go through 5 outfits a day:
http://www.eco-novice.com/2011/03/outdoor-clothes-lazy-cheap-and-green.html
Look at your cute blog header! Hope you enjoy this blog — I have a like/hate relationship with blogging.
Thanks, Erica! :0)
We try and get a few wears out of clothes too. Adalyn is really good at keeping her stuff clean, Connor does okay most of the time, and Tate- well, we are lucky if he makes it through the day with the same outfit! All told, I usually have to do two loads a week of their clothes, but luckily they fold and put them away themselves! (except Tate, obviously)
I actually often think of your entry on this subject when I'm deciding if their clothes are clean enough to be worn again. 🙂
Gotta love that Tate! 🙂