Change of season prompts clothing trauma

By Staff
Michelle Blaylock, Mom’s Corner
We’ve been working on the winter-summer change over in the Blaylock house. I can find this very frustrating because of the sorting and trying on. To minimize the yelling and tears — from me and them— I discovered a few strategies that help tremendously.
The first thing I try to do is not keep anything from the previous year that was definitely too small or unliked.. If I have the plan of “passing” it down, I will keep it in a Rubbermaid box and clearly label it with the size and gender of the clothing. I’ve found one of the keys to a quick and easy changeover is labeling boxes clearly.
When I’m ready to do the sorting I’ve discovered a method that works well for us and minimizes the number of times something has to be tried on. It works like this: have several laundry baskets ready and labeled “Too Small/Don’t Like,” “Too Big,” “Keepers.” I have one child, usually the smallest, try on the clothes and we separate them as they go. The next child only has to sort and try on clothes in the “Too Small/Don’t Like,” and the “Too Big” baskets. The last child, usually the largest, only has to sort and try on the “Too Big” basket. This way we aren’t doubling up on trying the clothes on. The “Too Small/Don’t Like” is bagged up, labeled and given away as soon as possible.
All that’s left is inventory. I take the “Keepers” and decide what is going to be play/work clothes, school clothes, and church clothes. After this, I have the girls come back one at a time and we count how many outfits they have in each category. I also label them at this time. Our labeling system is like Roman numerals. Our oldest is “I.” The next is “II” and so on. This works well because we do pass things down. Therefore, I only have to add “I’s” to the clothing instead of trying to change the names. If more than one girl likes the same outfit I only count it once and don’t label it. I decide what we need and make a list for yard sales and shopping.
Shopping becomes a whole other problem! One of the major problems I have when I shop, either at stores or yard sales, is deciding if it will fit. As we all know you can’t go by the manufacturer’s sizes; so my solution was a measuring tape. In my planner, I keep the measurements of each of the kids. When I go shopping I take along my tape measure, I just measure the front or back of a garment and double it. This isn’t perfect, but it’s usually fairly accurate. You can also trace their feet for buying shoes. Remember to update your measurements every few months or whenever you notice your kids’ clothes getting too tight or too short.
We do occasionally hit a snag when it comes to shopping. For example, I really hate taking the three youngest girls shopping together. It’s enough to make me wonder why on earth I ever wanted children in the first place. I usually take only one or two children at a time. It does take a more trips, but it does wonders for my sanity. I also have problems shopping with my 15-year-old son. He’s just not really into the clothing thing. His view is “If it stays up, isn’t too tight, and covers everything, it’s good.” He hates to try on clothes. I usually have to do a little bit of positive reinforcement to get him to work with me. (Yep, I bribe him!)
I used to have trouble with my oldest daughter until she was finally able to go shopping alone. She and I just didn’t shop together well. Our tastes were different, our method of shopping was different, and we had a serious problem “meeting in the middle.” My solution? Her dad went shopping with her. This also elevated the problem of daddy saying she couldn’t go out the door in an outfit, because he was the one with her when it was bought. No problem, right? Well, not always. The last time John and my oldest daughter went shopping they came back and my daughter was trying on each outfit for me. She came out wearing this incredibly short black dress. I looked at it and said, “Did your dad see this on you?”
She replies with, “Of course.”
I reply with, “OK, then.”
A few days later she came upstairs dressed in the short black dress. John takes one look at her and I hear, “Young lady, you are not leaving the house with that dress on. Just where did you get that thing at anyway?” My daughter looks at her dad as if he’s lost his mind and says, “What? You bought it for me!”
John stops, “Did I see that on you before I bought it?”
Of course at this point I’m laughing too hard to say much but I finally choke out, “Well, what were you thinking?”
John turns to me and says, “Did you wash that or something?”
Moral of this story? Daddy learned to pay a little more attention!
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