What could be more fun than getting a bag full of children’s clothing and children’s shoes – for FREE?! Hand-me-downs are a huge blessing that most children enjoy at some point, whether from a sibling, friend, or godmother’s niece’s kid! When they come, we are thankful.
But what about when they come in droves?
We have two boys, so theoretically, we had all the children’s clothing, shoes, and gear we needed when our second boy was born, aside from a few seasonal items since one was born in Spring in Southern California, and one in Fall in Colorado!
However, we know more families now, since we have been parents longer. So we get hand-me-downs from two families on our block and one at my mom’s church, and, yes, from my baby’s godmother’s niece’s little boy! Two give us big boy clothes, and two give us baby clothes. That’s a lot of wonderful children’s clothing. But who has that much storage space? Well, maybe you do, but I don’t! So, the process begins.
STEP 1: SELECTION
Narrow the collection down to the stuff you really like, since we all know half of children’s clothing goes unworn most of the time anyway. So… I weed out the T-shirts with slogans I’m not sure if I think are funny or tacky, anything I wouldn’t want them to wear out and about… Okay, important point here: DO NOT SAVE ANYTHING TO BE “PLAY IN THE MUD CLOTHING!” You will always have plenty of things that you are ready to retire anyway. Only save the good stuff.
STEP 2: SORTING BY SIZE
Pretty self-explanatory, right? Except that the sizing on children’s clothing is not consistent. So there are two schools of thought. A) Sort by the size on the label. B) Sort according to what age you think your baby will be when he/she wears it. I personally use Method A, because I always look ahead to the next size anyway as I get out the clothes for the boys to grow into. Also, Method B takes way too much time and estimation for my taste. So I just go by the tags.
STEP 3: STORAGE
Clear plastic stackable storage bins!!! These have changed my life. You can see exactly what’s in them. Hooray! I simply label them with an index card taped to the inside. You can see in the pictures, our boys’ closet is full of these clear plastic bins. All the children’s clothing, children’s shoes, and children’s coats that are not currently being worn are in these plastic storage bins. Even keepsakes, one bin for each child!
So this is how we have gotten a handle on our hand-me-downs! Would love to hear what has worked for you.
Now , I’m off to ship a BIG box of baby boy clothes to my sister-in-law, who is about to have her (please sit down) FIFTH child!
Winter coats are always a fun topic for parents. Why? Well, how many of you buy a beautiful winter coat for your little ones only to show up to school to find them running around the playground in their t-shirt? Then, as you brush the icicles from their little noses and ears, you ask the age old question, “Where is your coat?” only to hear the age old response, “I don’t know?” Then after you press further maybe during the walk to the car or the drive home you hear the words every parent dreads. “I don’t like that coat!” So what do you do to prevent this catastrophic event from becoming reality? The following are some suggestions from a Tagalotta Mom.
COATS
Coats are some of the biggest purchases in your collection of children’s clothes. They usually only fit one year – maybe two if you are lucky – so my advice would be to choose just one (or max two) coats at a time, and go BASIC and VERSATILE. Reversible coats are always fun, offering different options in color and texture. Probably the sturdiest articles of children’s clothes, coats are easy to pass along or “hand down” to siblings or friends. If you have both a boy and a girl in your family, consider gender neutral coats, and then personalize them with colorful accessories such as hats, gloves, and scarves. But most of all, get a coat your child will like feel good about wearing. Because it can only keep them warm if they will actually wear it!
Also go against the common parental practice of buying trendy i.e. (Dora, Spiderman, Batman) children’s clothes for your children. As many parents may know this week it may be Dora and next week it is The Bratz. This week it may be Transformers and next week it is Bakugons. To prevent the stand-off that is likely to happen when the trend has passed I suggest that you purchase plain utilitarian coats. They can still be stylish however, I suggest that major articles like Coats not be associated with any character. I have yet to hear an objection to the plain coats in our closet. Yet, that poor Spiderman Jacket that was all the rage is on its way to Goodwill.
