August 21, 2024 • 23 mins
Welcome back to the show my Friend!
As we continue to prepare the kids (and ourselves) for back to school It Is now time to dive Into creating a system for managing their clothes. You may even already be done with the official "first day back." BUT It Is not too late to get those closets organized and decluttered.
It Is Important to create your Ideal system first, before you even start shopping for any new back to school clothing Items. This system can then be re-used year after year, making It even easier to master an organized new school routine.
In this episode today, we will talk about...8 steps to get the kids closets and shoes organized for a new back to school season.
You need to set yourself up for success with a proper plan, an Idea of what you want, a step by step Implementation process, and tips for managing multiple closets for multiple kids.
If you want less clutter overall In your home, the kids' clothes are not exempt from that! Let's go through these steps together and get those closets and back to school clothing shopping lists ready for a new year.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
As we get closer and closer to the start of school beginning for many people,
but also as we get further into this series, it is now time to talk about the
third topic in how to get yourself and the kids and everything else organized
and ready for back to school in the best and easiest way possible.
Well, today I wanted to talk about the clothes aspect of it.
(00:20):
This is something important to get organized as well, because as we are dealing
with so much stuff when it comes to the kids to begin with, clothes is another
source of clutter and overwhelm for many of us.
So let's get some of these things in order and figured out before we start a new school year.
And I have eight steps for you today in order to do so. Let's go.
(00:49):
Do you wish that you had a peaceful, clutter-free home, but you are buried under
piles of toys and laundry?
Do you wish you could create simple systems to get organized,
but you just don't know where to start?
Hey there, I'm Amy, wife and mom to four littles.
For years, I thought that having an organized home meant Pinterest perfect and clean at all times.
(01:09):
I tried every tip for cleaning and organizing only to fall off track again and to feel like a failure.
Finally, I came to realize that in order to become the organized mom I wanted
to be, I had to start with organizing myself.
So I developed a simple framework that focuses on organization as the whole picture.
(01:29):
I am so excited to share it with you.
So if you are ready for a peaceful, clutter-free, and easy to maintain home,
then this is the podcast for you.
Reach for your special snacks, brew some coffee and go hide in the closet because
it is time for some me time mama. Let's learn.
(01:50):
I know I can't be alone in this, but my kids have a lot of clothes.
We are blessed with a lot of hand-me-downs, which is incredible.
I am so, so thankful for it.
It does, however, in time and in the grand scheme of things,
it ends up turning into a lot of clothes overall.
And so I find, personally, I have to be really careful about how many new clothes
(02:14):
I'm bringing into the house, or shoes, or coats, or any of those things at any given time.
Because there's only so much closet space only so
much storage space and additionally only so
much that can be done in order to manage it all so I
I know I'm not alone in this I know that
there are many other moms out there and probably you listening as well that
feels like you've got a lot of clothes to deal with and that just yeah it turns
(02:39):
into a source of overwhelm for us all so I I always feel like I said it's really
important to have a system for everything of of course, because that's what
I'm trying to teach you how to do.
But especially when it comes to back to school shopping, be careful about how
many things you are actually putting on that back to school shopping list.
Because we know how stores work. They're going to pull us in with the sales
(03:02):
and with the good deals and try to convince us to buy things that we probably ended up not needing.
And then you also know that as a busy mom, the last thing you want to do is
go stand in line to return stuff afterwards.
Like, especially if you still have littler kids with you that aren't going back
to school, and then you're dragging everybody back to the stores to return things,
(03:24):
or trying to figure out how to return it through the mail if you ordered it online.
It's convenient to be able to return stuff, yes, but it's also a hassle.
And so sometimes we just end up keeping those things because we think,
oh, it was on sale anyways, and you know, whatever.
It's easier just to keep it. I know I myself have said that before.
So anyways, I have been trying to get a bit better and more intentional about,
(03:47):
like I said, what pieces I'm bringing in to begin with.
And getting prepared for back to school or for a change of seasons is no exception to that rule.
So I wanted to kind of share eight steps for you that you can use to kind of
create a little back-to-school closet organizing system if you want to consider that.
(04:09):
But essentially, I hope that these steps are going to help you to break down
this task into manageable.
Pieces that you can kind of visualize, this is what I do, and then this is what I do.
And then with the overall goal of it being that before you do any back to school
shopping for the clothing, whether that's online or in person,
(04:30):
that you have a really solid game plan in place,
first of all, so that we are being intentional about what we are bringing in
and that we are not unintentionally bringing in a whole bunch of clutter and
extra clothing pieces that we don't need.
Need and then also spending extra money that we don't need to spend in the long run as well.
(04:50):
So I wanted to share those eight steps with you today. However,
I do need to remind you as well.
That, as I said, throughout the month of August, as we're doing this back to school series,
there is a super fun, well, you can call it fun if you want to,
a super easy, that's the word I was looking for, a super easy contest that you
can participate in and have a chance to win prize. guys.
(05:13):
So all you have to do is leave a review for the podcast or share the podcast
with a friend, stuff like that. It is super easy to do.
And then show me that you've done those things and you get entries into the giveaway.
So super simple to do. And you can participate in this one of two ways.
You can join the Facebook community by going to plan2mom.com slash Facebook,
(05:37):
or you can join the email list and participate in the giveaway that way as well
by being on the list and then emailing me with your entries.
You can do get on the email list by going to plantomom.com checklist and opt
in to get the free printable daily toy tidy checklist that I have there and
(06:00):
then get on the email list and stay all up to date with everything that's going on.
So without further ado let's jump into the eight steps that I have here for you today.
Step number one. First of all, we are going to schedule some time for this task.
That is the first step of anything when you are tackling a big project.
Schedule in some time for it and break it down into chunks so that you're giving
(06:26):
yourself enough time to get it done before the deadline that you have in your
mind of when you want this done.
So step number one, schedule some time on your calendar for this task in the next few weeks.
Step number two, you are going to make a plan.
Again, one of the most crucial parts when we are going to organize anything is to have a plan.
(06:48):
You want to create your system baseline.
That's what I mean when I say we're creating a plan. And in this step,
I want you to identify what clothing items you need before you even start digging in closets.
So this is where we are literally just visualizing and putting pen to paper
(07:10):
or fingers to phone to write a note.
To write down our ideal number of how many pieces of clothing of each certain
type of item, we believe that the kids need.
Crucial part of this is need, not how many we want, because I'm pretty sure
(07:31):
we all have way more clothes than we actually need.
That's just the nature of how a lot of it goes with the fast fashion and the
consumerism and everything that we deal with in this day and age.
I, too, definitely really struggle with that. So anyways, you are visualizing
and putting pen to paper first of saying, realistically, how many pairs of pants do the kids need?
(07:56):
Does each kid need how many shorts?
How many of each number jammies do they realistically need?
And there's a lot of things that will come into play in order to come up with
your perfect number. It'll depend on your family dynamics.
It'll depend on how many kids are in the family. how often you do laundry,
how hard your kids are on clothes.
For me personally, we have kind of two different sets of clothes because I've
(08:21):
got good clothes that they wear to town, school, church, stuff like that.
And then we've got the play clothes that are for the farm that they're usually
the hand-me-downs that already have rips and stuff in them, but I ain't about
to throw them away until they're super ripped.
So you want to
have a list of what you want ideally ahead
of time first because this is what's going to help us to control what
(08:44):
happens in the next steps because we're creating a vision of what the ideal
system around this is going to look like and then step number three you're going
to start going through the closets step number three is pick one child's closet
to start in step number three one child's closet to start in.
(09:05):
I like to start with the oldest kid first and then
also if you have two different genders then I would start with the
oldest kid of one gender and then do the next kid if you have like two boys
two girls for example do your oldest boy first and then your next boy and then
your oldest girl and then your next girl the reason for this being it'll make
sense in the other steps and I've said it before too I'll share the other episodes
(09:27):
that I did not too long ago on kids closet organization.
But of course, the point of this is being able to assess what clothes you're
passing down, because of course, whatever you are able to pass down is going
to turn into inventory for that younger child's closet.
So it's just a really important piece of the puzzle to start with the older
kid first. Some may argue different.
(09:49):
I know I just find for me personally with having four girls.
I don't know if I've ever actually said that, but I have four girls, no
boys so I can't speak
to the two boys two girls for example but I always
always always start with the oldest kid first to me that's
just kind of what makes sense so that's what I always recommend step number
(10:10):
four then once you pick that closet of what kid you're gonna go through their
closet now you are going to start assessing step number four is assess you are
going to go through the closet and start taking a look at what you already have.
I like to start with the seasonal clothes first because usually when you're
(10:30):
starting to do back to school shopping that's when you're doing a change of season.
Like for me personally in this part of the world when we start back to school
that's kind of when summer's ending and fall's beginning.
That may look different for you depending on where you live that's just kind of how it is for us.
So that's why I like to start with the seasonal
clothes first so that I can get a good idea of
(10:53):
like how many shorts and tank tops and dresses and stuff do we still have right
now that fit or from this season because usually when you go to back to school
shopping a lot of those items are on sale because it's the end of the season
and so I like to then buy things for the following season in the next size up.
So anyways, that's why for step
(11:14):
number four, you are going to assess the clothing that is in that closet.
And I like to always start with the seasonal clothing first,
and then work my way into the clothing where I will wear that's the season that
we are heading into. two.
And then step number five, make a list. Step number five, make a list.
(11:35):
You have two options for this.
Option number one, take an inventory of everything you do have.
Or option number two, make a list of what you do not have. So I will break this
down further and explain it more for you.
So step number five, make a list. If you are taking an inventory of what you do have.
(11:56):
This is so that you can do the math after of what you have versus what you wanted.
Back in step number two, when we created our system baseline,
and for example, we said ideally I would like five pairs of shorts.
That's my number that I would like to have.
Then if you are doing step 5a and you are making a list of everything you do
(12:19):
have, then of course you're just doing the math equation of this is what I do
have, this is what I wanted, this is the difference I need to make up.
When I do my back-to-school shopping.
So this gives you a good picture of what you already have at home.
So it's going to help prevent overbuying, duplicate buying, or the dreaded buying
it just because it's on sale.
(12:40):
If you are one like me that struggles with that.
And then step 5b, if you are going to make a list of what you do not have simply,
then this is ultimately the simplest way.
So instead of inventorying what you have, you're simply making a list of what you don't have.
(13:00):
So you're kind of just doing the math on the spot. Instead, you're taking those
shorts out of the closet.
Okay, these are all the shorts I have. I can see I have three pairs here.
I know I wanted five. That means on my list, I'm going to write down two.
So I hope you can kind of get the visual of what I'm saying here.
You're making a list and you're choosing, are you inventorying to come up with
(13:20):
what you want so that you also have an inventory of what you have,
like writing down the colors and all those details.
I can talk about that more in another episode another day.
Or are you just making a note of what you do not have to keep it really simple that way?
I want you to pick this second method if you're already kind of overwhelmed,
(13:41):
feeling done with summer, back to school shopping, if you're feeling done with all that.
I want you to pick this second method because in a
way you're kind of just making a a grocery list of sorts and so
you're just noting the items that you do not have that you
need to get the size that you need to get them in and
maybe write down the color if you're feeling fancy so that you
stay more focused when you're shopping and it's as simple as
(14:03):
that step number six now you
are going to remove so now that you're in this closet you're making your list
you're checking it twice just kidding you are now going to remove things as
you make your list you now have the the option to remove the items that you
can now see don't fit or that are not going to fit soon.
(14:25):
Additionally, you have the option of now doing your seasonal clothing rotation at the same time.
But only do this if your climate is conducive to actually doing that task right
now and if you have the task to do this properly right now.
So technically I should say that step six is optional.
Step six of removing items that are too small or going to be in the wrong season
(14:49):
is technically optional.
However, it does definitely make heading to the next kid's closet a little bit
easier as then you have a really good idea of what clothes are being passed
down right at this very moment.
So it does make it easier to do that next step of of like what clothes do I
(15:10):
need for the next kid for the back to school shopping for them.
So yeah essentially you can still go through a closet and assess what you need
to buy for back to school without Without tearing it apart and without putting
away summer clothes and doing a seasonal swap,
you can definitely still do this task.
(15:31):
But, and to keep it simple, but you can also do the other task at the same time
if you want to get it done.
Sometimes we overcomplicate things and add steps to our process that we don't
need to do at that exact time.
I'm really guilty of that because I struggle with the
(15:51):
get it done attitude and the perfectionist attitude and
sometimes this does bite us in the butt because we end
up then getting too deep into a project that we didn't mean to be that deep
into so this is full permission to just do your quick glance and organize of
the closet like I stated without doing this step number six of removing items,
(16:15):
full permission to skip this step.
Just keep in mind that then, when the seasons do actually change,
that you should come back and do your seasonal clothing swap.
And yeah, I do have an episode on that. So you can go back to episodes.
Sorry, I had this written down. My apologies. You can go back to episode number 37 and 38,
(16:39):
where I do actually talk about the steps that you should take in order to switch
a closet for the next season and how to create a simple clothing inventory.
So totally check out episode 37 and 38
if you haven't already done so and if you
are looking for information on how to
remove items effectively that are
(16:59):
too small and for the wrong season however now in
the meantime let's move on to step number seven now you're
going to repeat the steps above for the next child's closet again if you are
removing items from the older siblings closets then you do need to take that
into account when you're making your new back-to-school shopping list for the
(17:20):
next youngest kid if those clothes are going to fit right away.
But of course, this is going to depend on how close together the kids are,
how close they are in size, all those things, all those factors that you know and I don't.
I just, in my experience, what I can speak from, excuse me, is that like my
first three, like the third one was born before for my oldest,
(17:42):
turned three, I think was kind of how that worked out.
So typically they have always kind of the clothes has gone from one closet to
another because of the sizing and ages being so close together.
However, that might not be your story.
So just if you are removing clothes from the older siblings closets,
I would highly recommend just inventorying that,
(18:04):
putting it in in a box nicely putting the
list putting that inventory list in that box so that you can see at a glance
what you have in that size coming up even if it's a couple sizes away however
that's just a side note but essentially
you just you need to know what new clothes you are able to bring in,
(18:25):
when you do have hand-me-down clothes on hand but of course the reason why I
didn't mention it with those earlier steps is because typically that doesn't
apply as much for an older kid unless less you're getting hand-me-downs from
an external family member or friend.
So just keep all that in mind as you're creating your list of either what you
have on hand or what you need, like we talked about in step five.
(18:49):
And then step number eight, the final step, is you're going to head out shopping.
My biggest task to you in this step number eight is stick to your list.
We are trying to combat the clutter that can come with having too many clothes
in the house and all the extra things that come along with our children, which is wonderful,
(19:12):
but it is good to control these things a little bit.
So don't invite more clutter into your home than you meant to.
Don't buy it just because it's on sale i'm talking to myself here i'm preaching to the choir.
So just try your hardest to stick to
the plan that you set out stick to the
(19:32):
system that you visualized in step number two in order to really take control
of your back to school clothing shopping for your kids in order to keep those
kids closets more organized and in order to make this task simpler and easier
and less overwhelming for you overall.
So I hope that these eight steps have been helpful for you.
(19:54):
I am so thankful that you have been tuning into this back to school series and
I hope that it's been beneficial for you.
The reason why I did this was because I'm literally walking through these exact
steps with you guys and so I just took like okay what am I doing in the next
five weeks to get ready for school and that's what I want to talk to you
guys about so it's it's a literally a
(20:15):
mirror of what I myself am working on as
well and so just be encouraged in that be encouraged that I'm doing it right
alongside you and that yeah or that if you are getting behind on some of the
other episodes that's okay just do it in your own time do what you need to do
to get your kids ready for back to school depending on when they actually begin.
(20:37):
And overall, the purpose of this series is just to give you some tactical ideas
of how each of these things can be turned into a system within themselves.
And even though we don't use that system month after month, it is still something
that you can come back to next year because you created it once.
And after you've created something once, it's easier to come back to it.
(21:00):
And then instead of creating it from scratch and reinventing the wheel,
you're just refining. You're optimizing.
You are just improving it every single time. So even if we don't use it for
a year, that doesn't mean that we won't use it ever again.
So I do highly recommend that you take the time to do these tasks whenever you're
able to think about it in terms of how am I creating a system for myself that
(21:23):
I can repeat and reuse over and over again to make this process process next
time, easier on my brain.
Because that is what I want for you. That is my goal for you.
That is my goal for myself.
And I think that should be all of our goals as busy moms who are looking to get more organized.
(21:45):
So thank you for being here. I hope you have a great rest of your week.
I hope that you will participate in the giveaway so that you have a chance to win some fun prizes.
And I think I'm going to have an exciting, well, maybe not exciting,
but a kind of cool bonus episode coming for you guys really soon here.
(22:08):
I thought it's probably about time that I tell you a little bit more of my story.
I'm almost a year into this podcasting journey and I haven't really shared my
story so I thought I should maybe do that soon here.
So keep your eyes open for a bonus episode on that and maybe it'll just be in
(22:28):
celebration of something big as well to announce to you all.
Thank you for being here. Have a great rest of your week and a wonderful weekend. Bye for now.
Hey mama thanks for tuning in i hope
that you enjoyed today's episode if so would you mind sharing it with a mom
friend that is also desiring a more peaceful and orderly home make sure to hit
(22:53):
that subscribe button so that you don't miss a thing lastly can you head over
to apple podcasts and leave me a review it lights me up to read the ways that
this show is helping you.
Now it's time for me to get back to my never-ending pile of laundry,
and I'm sure you have some too.
I'll meet you back on Wednesday for another episode. Bye for now!
Music.
As we get closer and closer to the start of school beginning for many people,
but also as we get further into this series, it is now time to talk about the
third topic in how to get yourself and the kids and everything else organized
and ready for back to school in the best and easiest way possible.
Well, today I wanted to talk about the clothes aspect of it.
(00:20):
This is something important to get organized as well, because as we are dealing
with so much stuff when it comes to the kids to begin with, clothes is another
source of clutter and overwhelm for many of us.
So let's get some of these things in order and figured out before we start a new school year.
And I have eight steps for you today in order to do so. Let's go.
(00:49):
Do you wish that you had a peaceful, clutter-free home, but you are buried under
piles of toys and laundry?
Do you wish you could create simple systems to get organized,
but you just don't know where to start?
Hey there, I'm Amy, wife and mom to four littles.
For years, I thought that having an organized home meant Pinterest perfect and clean at all times.
(01:09):
I tried every tip for cleaning and organizing only to fall off track again and to feel like a failure.
Finally, I came to realize that in order to become the organized mom I wanted
to be, I had to start with organizing myself.
So I developed a simple framework that focuses on organization as the whole picture.
(01:29):
I am so excited to share it with you.
So if you are ready for a peaceful, clutter-free, and easy to maintain home,
then this is the podcast for you.
Reach for your special snacks, brew some coffee and go hide in the closet because
it is time for some me time mama. Let's learn.
(01:50):
I know I can't be alone in this, but my kids have a lot of clothes.
We are blessed with a lot of hand-me-downs, which is incredible.
I am so, so thankful for it.
It does, however, in time and in the grand scheme of things,
it ends up turning into a lot of clothes overall.
And so I find, personally, I have to be really careful about how many new clothes
(02:14):
I'm bringing into the house, or shoes, or coats, or any of those things at any given time.
Because there's only so much closet space only so
much storage space and additionally only so
much that can be done in order to manage it all so I
I know I'm not alone in this I know that
there are many other moms out there and probably you listening as well that
feels like you've got a lot of clothes to deal with and that just yeah it turns
(02:39):
into a source of overwhelm for us all so I I always feel like I said it's really
important to have a system for everything of of course, because that's what
I'm trying to teach you how to do.
But especially when it comes to back to school shopping, be careful about how
many things you are actually putting on that back to school shopping list.
Because we know how stores work. They're going to pull us in with the sales
(03:02):
and with the good deals and try to convince us to buy things that we probably ended up not needing.
And then you also know that as a busy mom, the last thing you want to do is
go stand in line to return stuff afterwards.
Like, especially if you still have littler kids with you that aren't going back
to school, and then you're dragging everybody back to the stores to return things,
(03:24):
or trying to figure out how to return it through the mail if you ordered it online.
It's convenient to be able to return stuff, yes, but it's also a hassle.
And so sometimes we just end up keeping those things because we think,
oh, it was on sale anyways, and you know, whatever.
It's easier just to keep it. I know I myself have said that before.
So anyways, I have been trying to get a bit better and more intentional about,
(03:47):
like I said, what pieces I'm bringing in to begin with.
And getting prepared for back to school or for a change of seasons is no exception to that rule.
So I wanted to kind of share eight steps for you that you can use to kind of
create a little back-to-school closet organizing system if you want to consider that.
(04:09):
But essentially, I hope that these steps are going to help you to break down
this task into manageable.
Pieces that you can kind of visualize, this is what I do, and then this is what I do.
And then with the overall goal of it being that before you do any back to school
shopping for the clothing, whether that's online or in person,
(04:30):
that you have a really solid game plan in place,
first of all, so that we are being intentional about what we are bringing in
and that we are not unintentionally bringing in a whole bunch of clutter and
extra clothing pieces that we don't need.
Need and then also spending extra money that we don't need to spend in the long run as well.
(04:50):
So I wanted to share those eight steps with you today. However,
I do need to remind you as well.
That, as I said, throughout the month of August, as we're doing this back to school series,
there is a super fun, well, you can call it fun if you want to,
a super easy, that's the word I was looking for, a super easy contest that you
can participate in and have a chance to win prize. guys.
(05:13):
So all you have to do is leave a review for the podcast or share the podcast
with a friend, stuff like that. It is super easy to do.
And then show me that you've done those things and you get entries into the giveaway.
So super simple to do. And you can participate in this one of two ways.
You can join the Facebook community by going to plan2mom.com slash Facebook,
(05:37):
or you can join the email list and participate in the giveaway that way as well
by being on the list and then emailing me with your entries.
You can do get on the email list by going to plantomom.com checklist and opt
in to get the free printable daily toy tidy checklist that I have there and
(06:00):
then get on the email list and stay all up to date with everything that's going on.
So without further ado let's jump into the eight steps that I have here for you today.
Step number one. First of all, we are going to schedule some time for this task.
That is the first step of anything when you are tackling a big project.
Schedule in some time for it and break it down into chunks so that you're giving
(06:26):
yourself enough time to get it done before the deadline that you have in your
mind of when you want this done.
So step number one, schedule some time on your calendar for this task in the next few weeks.
Step number two, you are going to make a plan.
Again, one of the most crucial parts when we are going to organize anything is to have a plan.
(06:48):
You want to create your system baseline.
That's what I mean when I say we're creating a plan. And in this step,
I want you to identify what clothing items you need before you even start digging in closets.
So this is where we are literally just visualizing and putting pen to paper
(07:10):
or fingers to phone to write a note.
To write down our ideal number of how many pieces of clothing of each certain
type of item, we believe that the kids need.
Crucial part of this is need, not how many we want, because I'm pretty sure
(07:31):
we all have way more clothes than we actually need.
That's just the nature of how a lot of it goes with the fast fashion and the
consumerism and everything that we deal with in this day and age.
I, too, definitely really struggle with that. So anyways, you are visualizing
and putting pen to paper first of saying, realistically, how many pairs of pants do the kids need?
(07:56):
Does each kid need how many shorts?
How many of each number jammies do they realistically need?
And there's a lot of things that will come into play in order to come up with
your perfect number. It'll depend on your family dynamics.
It'll depend on how many kids are in the family. how often you do laundry,
how hard your kids are on clothes.
For me personally, we have kind of two different sets of clothes because I've
(08:21):
got good clothes that they wear to town, school, church, stuff like that.
And then we've got the play clothes that are for the farm that they're usually
the hand-me-downs that already have rips and stuff in them, but I ain't about
to throw them away until they're super ripped.
So you want to
have a list of what you want ideally ahead
of time first because this is what's going to help us to control what
(08:44):
happens in the next steps because we're creating a vision of what the ideal
system around this is going to look like and then step number three you're going
to start going through the closets step number three is pick one child's closet
to start in step number three one child's closet to start in.
(09:05):
I like to start with the oldest kid first and then
also if you have two different genders then I would start with the
oldest kid of one gender and then do the next kid if you have like two boys
two girls for example do your oldest boy first and then your next boy and then
your oldest girl and then your next girl the reason for this being it'll make
sense in the other steps and I've said it before too I'll share the other episodes
(09:27):
that I did not too long ago on kids closet organization.
But of course, the point of this is being able to assess what clothes you're
passing down, because of course, whatever you are able to pass down is going
to turn into inventory for that younger child's closet.
So it's just a really important piece of the puzzle to start with the older
kid first. Some may argue different.
(09:49):
I know I just find for me personally with having four girls.
I don't know if I've ever actually said that, but I have four girls, no
boys so I can't speak
to the two boys two girls for example but I always
always always start with the oldest kid first to me that's
just kind of what makes sense so that's what I always recommend step number
(10:10):
four then once you pick that closet of what kid you're gonna go through their
closet now you are going to start assessing step number four is assess you are
going to go through the closet and start taking a look at what you already have.
I like to start with the seasonal clothes first because usually when you're
(10:30):
starting to do back to school shopping that's when you're doing a change of season.
Like for me personally in this part of the world when we start back to school
that's kind of when summer's ending and fall's beginning.
That may look different for you depending on where you live that's just kind of how it is for us.
So that's why I like to start with the seasonal
clothes first so that I can get a good idea of
(10:53):
like how many shorts and tank tops and dresses and stuff do we still have right
now that fit or from this season because usually when you go to back to school
shopping a lot of those items are on sale because it's the end of the season
and so I like to then buy things for the following season in the next size up.
So anyways, that's why for step
(11:14):
number four, you are going to assess the clothing that is in that closet.
And I like to always start with the seasonal clothing first,
and then work my way into the clothing where I will wear that's the season that
we are heading into. two.
And then step number five, make a list. Step number five, make a list.
(11:35):
You have two options for this.
Option number one, take an inventory of everything you do have.
Or option number two, make a list of what you do not have. So I will break this
down further and explain it more for you.
So step number five, make a list. If you are taking an inventory of what you do have.
(11:56):
This is so that you can do the math after of what you have versus what you wanted.
Back in step number two, when we created our system baseline,
and for example, we said ideally I would like five pairs of shorts.
That's my number that I would like to have.
Then if you are doing step 5a and you are making a list of everything you do
(12:19):
have, then of course you're just doing the math equation of this is what I do
have, this is what I wanted, this is the difference I need to make up.
When I do my back-to-school shopping.
So this gives you a good picture of what you already have at home.
So it's going to help prevent overbuying, duplicate buying, or the dreaded buying
it just because it's on sale.
(12:40):
If you are one like me that struggles with that.
And then step 5b, if you are going to make a list of what you do not have simply,
then this is ultimately the simplest way.
So instead of inventorying what you have, you're simply making a list of what you don't have.
(13:00):
So you're kind of just doing the math on the spot. Instead, you're taking those
shorts out of the closet.
Okay, these are all the shorts I have. I can see I have three pairs here.
I know I wanted five. That means on my list, I'm going to write down two.
So I hope you can kind of get the visual of what I'm saying here.
You're making a list and you're choosing, are you inventorying to come up with
(13:20):
what you want so that you also have an inventory of what you have,
like writing down the colors and all those details.
I can talk about that more in another episode another day.
Or are you just making a note of what you do not have to keep it really simple that way?
I want you to pick this second method if you're already kind of overwhelmed,
(13:41):
feeling done with summer, back to school shopping, if you're feeling done with all that.
I want you to pick this second method because in a
way you're kind of just making a a grocery list of sorts and so
you're just noting the items that you do not have that you
need to get the size that you need to get them in and
maybe write down the color if you're feeling fancy so that you
stay more focused when you're shopping and it's as simple as
(14:03):
that step number six now you
are going to remove so now that you're in this closet you're making your list
you're checking it twice just kidding you are now going to remove things as
you make your list you now have the the option to remove the items that you
can now see don't fit or that are not going to fit soon.
(14:25):
Additionally, you have the option of now doing your seasonal clothing rotation at the same time.
But only do this if your climate is conducive to actually doing that task right
now and if you have the task to do this properly right now.
So technically I should say that step six is optional.
Step six of removing items that are too small or going to be in the wrong season
(14:49):
is technically optional.
However, it does definitely make heading to the next kid's closet a little bit
easier as then you have a really good idea of what clothes are being passed
down right at this very moment.
So it does make it easier to do that next step of of like what clothes do I
(15:10):
need for the next kid for the back to school shopping for them.
So yeah essentially you can still go through a closet and assess what you need
to buy for back to school without Without tearing it apart and without putting
away summer clothes and doing a seasonal swap,
you can definitely still do this task.
(15:31):
But, and to keep it simple, but you can also do the other task at the same time
if you want to get it done.
Sometimes we overcomplicate things and add steps to our process that we don't
need to do at that exact time.
I'm really guilty of that because I struggle with the
(15:51):
get it done attitude and the perfectionist attitude and
sometimes this does bite us in the butt because we end
up then getting too deep into a project that we didn't mean to be that deep
into so this is full permission to just do your quick glance and organize of
the closet like I stated without doing this step number six of removing items,
(16:15):
full permission to skip this step.
Just keep in mind that then, when the seasons do actually change,
that you should come back and do your seasonal clothing swap.
And yeah, I do have an episode on that. So you can go back to episodes.
Sorry, I had this written down. My apologies. You can go back to episode number 37 and 38,
(16:39):
where I do actually talk about the steps that you should take in order to switch
a closet for the next season and how to create a simple clothing inventory.
So totally check out episode 37 and 38
if you haven't already done so and if you
are looking for information on how to
remove items effectively that are
(16:59):
too small and for the wrong season however now in
the meantime let's move on to step number seven now you're
going to repeat the steps above for the next child's closet again if you are
removing items from the older siblings closets then you do need to take that
into account when you're making your new back-to-school shopping list for the
(17:20):
next youngest kid if those clothes are going to fit right away.
But of course, this is going to depend on how close together the kids are,
how close they are in size, all those things, all those factors that you know and I don't.
I just, in my experience, what I can speak from, excuse me, is that like my
first three, like the third one was born before for my oldest,
(17:42):
turned three, I think was kind of how that worked out.
So typically they have always kind of the clothes has gone from one closet to
another because of the sizing and ages being so close together.
However, that might not be your story.
So just if you are removing clothes from the older siblings closets,
I would highly recommend just inventorying that,
(18:04):
putting it in in a box nicely putting the
list putting that inventory list in that box so that you can see at a glance
what you have in that size coming up even if it's a couple sizes away however
that's just a side note but essentially
you just you need to know what new clothes you are able to bring in,
(18:25):
when you do have hand-me-down clothes on hand but of course the reason why I
didn't mention it with those earlier steps is because typically that doesn't
apply as much for an older kid unless less you're getting hand-me-downs from
an external family member or friend.
So just keep all that in mind as you're creating your list of either what you
have on hand or what you need, like we talked about in step five.
(18:49):
And then step number eight, the final step, is you're going to head out shopping.
My biggest task to you in this step number eight is stick to your list.
We are trying to combat the clutter that can come with having too many clothes
in the house and all the extra things that come along with our children, which is wonderful,
(19:12):
but it is good to control these things a little bit.
So don't invite more clutter into your home than you meant to.
Don't buy it just because it's on sale i'm talking to myself here i'm preaching to the choir.
So just try your hardest to stick to
the plan that you set out stick to the
(19:32):
system that you visualized in step number two in order to really take control
of your back to school clothing shopping for your kids in order to keep those
kids closets more organized and in order to make this task simpler and easier
and less overwhelming for you overall.
So I hope that these eight steps have been helpful for you.
(19:54):
I am so thankful that you have been tuning into this back to school series and
I hope that it's been beneficial for you.
The reason why I did this was because I'm literally walking through these exact
steps with you guys and so I just took like okay what am I doing in the next
five weeks to get ready for school and that's what I want to talk to you
guys about so it's it's a literally a
(20:15):
mirror of what I myself am working on as
well and so just be encouraged in that be encouraged that I'm doing it right
alongside you and that yeah or that if you are getting behind on some of the
other episodes that's okay just do it in your own time do what you need to do
to get your kids ready for back to school depending on when they actually begin.
(20:37):
And overall, the purpose of this series is just to give you some tactical ideas
of how each of these things can be turned into a system within themselves.
And even though we don't use that system month after month, it is still something
that you can come back to next year because you created it once.
And after you've created something once, it's easier to come back to it.
(21:00):
And then instead of creating it from scratch and reinventing the wheel,
you're just refining. You're optimizing.
You are just improving it every single time. So even if we don't use it for
a year, that doesn't mean that we won't use it ever again.
So I do highly recommend that you take the time to do these tasks whenever you're
able to think about it in terms of how am I creating a system for myself that
(21:23):
I can repeat and reuse over and over again to make this process process next
time, easier on my brain.
Because that is what I want for you. That is my goal for you.
That is my goal for myself.
And I think that should be all of our goals as busy moms who are looking to get more organized.
(21:45):
So thank you for being here. I hope you have a great rest of your week.
I hope that you will participate in the giveaway so that you have a chance to win some fun prizes.
And I think I'm going to have an exciting, well, maybe not exciting,
but a kind of cool bonus episode coming for you guys really soon here.
(22:08):
I thought it's probably about time that I tell you a little bit more of my story.
I'm almost a year into this podcasting journey and I haven't really shared my
story so I thought I should maybe do that soon here.
So keep your eyes open for a bonus episode on that and maybe it'll just be in
(22:28):
celebration of something big as well to announce to you all.
Thank you for being here. Have a great rest of your week and a wonderful weekend. Bye for now.
Hey mama thanks for tuning in i hope
that you enjoyed today's episode if so would you mind sharing it with a mom
friend that is also desiring a more peaceful and orderly home make sure to hit
(22:53):
that subscribe button so that you don't miss a thing lastly can you head over
to apple podcasts and leave me a review it lights me up to read the ways that
this show is helping you.
Now it's time for me to get back to my never-ending pile of laundry,
and I'm sure you have some too.
I'll meet you back on Wednesday for another episode. Bye for now!
Music.
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