Large Family Laundry Routine

I've talked before about how I use my laundry routine as part of our homeschool, especially with my little ones.

We don't just learn in the laundry room, sometimes I actually DO laundry.  

No matter the size of your family, LAUNDRY HAPPENS!!

I've tried many methods over the years from scheduling laundry days to delegating it to older children.  Schedules - aarrgh - don't get me started.  They're so restricting and what if Monday is laundry day and you're invited to a homeschool get together.  Then what?  Do you transfer laundry to Tuesday?  But that just screws up Tuesday's schedule.  Do you wait for the next Monday to do laundry again?  Of course not - the laundry room would explode.

How about delegating?  That worked OK until Downy was used as laundry soap.  After all my t-shirts lost their shape, I delegated myself back to the laundry room.  And besides, I love washing clothes and I actually missed doing laundry.

NOW, I've settled into a laundry routine.  My routine keeps me moving on auto pilot.  

Morning - Wake up, collect laundry, sort, start load, coffee, get dressed.

Noon - Laundry switch, 2nd load if needed, lunch.

Afternoon - Fold and stack on dryer.

After supper - Put away.

Next day - Repeat.

If you like watching other people do laundry and want all the details of my large family laundry routine, I have a video on my YouTube channel, A Country Life.  I yak on and on about washing only dirty clothes, my favorite bleach and folding immediately.

What's your favorite household chore?  I want to hear from all the other laundry lovers out there -  I can't be the only one.

5 Money-Saving Tips for Buying Kids Clothes

Children.....they're born naked, and then at around 3 hours old they don their first teeny, tiny wrap-around t-shirt.  And that's when it starts......their constant need for increasingly larger clothing.  What?  You want new jeans to fit your new mama shape?  Sorry.  Baby needs a couple sleepers.  What?  You want a new bra to fit your new mama #%&*?  Sorry.  Baby needs two more sleepers because every night they poop through the first two before midnight.  What?  You want a new dress just because you want one?  Sorry.  Baby needs onesies and socks and rompers and then, oh no!  they just outgrew it all.  And the story continues and continues and continues.  Our oldest is 18 and I can tell you the need for clothes hasn't stopped yet.

What is a mama to do?  She wants to wear comfortable and stylish clothing, yet her children need clothes that fit.  And that's when thrift shops are a godsend.  I've been shopping Goodwill and other thrift/resale stores for years.  Since before my oldest was even born.  I've learned a lot over the years about shopping for previously owned clothing and I'd like to share my tips with you.  

I'm going to focus on buying kids clothes, however most of these tips work for adult clothes as well.  I've noticed that kids clothes stay stylish longer and are bargain priced more often than adult clothing.

Tip #1 - Know what sizes/gender are easy to find

Infant and toddler clothes are the easiest to come by.  Infants often receive so many gifts and grow out of their clothing so fast, it rarely gets worn out.  Toddlers are a little harder on their clothing, but still most things have quite a bit of life left in them.  If girl clothes are what you're looking for, consider yourself lucky.  The choices are endless even well into the older girl sizes.  Boys clothing, on the other hand, is spotty at best over 4T.  Just forget about finding size 7/8.  Boys do indeed wear their clothing to shreds.

Tip #2 - Know what items to look for

Never, never, ever, ever buy brand new pajamas.  Never.  Sure, you want cute and cuddly.  Obviously, you want the zippers and snaps to work.  It's very easy to find jammies to fit both categories.  Dress clothes are another fairly easy item to score.  Fancy dresses, dress pants, tiny suit coats, ties, church coats - all are worn only a few times before being outgrown.  Play clothes or everyday wear can be more difficult to find, simply being, they've been worn for play.  Play = dirty.  Dirty = stains.  Everyday wear can be found, it just takes patience and multiple stops.  Snowpants are easily found for small children, but once they get to the king of the hill age, most likely you'll have pass by the thrift shops.

Tip #3 - Establish your price limit per piece

Over the years I've overpaid for shorts, t-shirts, and leggings and it really miffs me.  I hate it when I'm strolling through Walmart and see shorts for $2.97 and think back to my last Goodwill stop where I paid $2.99 for a pair of used play shorts.  So, I've set price limits to help me shop smart.  Prices will be different for gender and size because certain items are harder/easier to find.  And size matters.  Older kids clothing will typically cost more than infant/toddler so plan accordingly.  Here are my current limits.  Having these limits keeps me from buying every cute dress I see.  

Currently I'm buying size 2T/3T dresses - $3.00 or less
2T/3T leggings - $2.00 or less
Boys 5T anything - $4.00 or less
Boys size 8 anything - $4.00 or less
Boys size 18/20 shirts/shorts/swim trunks - $5.00 or less
18/20 jeans - $8.00 or less
Everyone else wears adult sizes.

Tip #4 - Know when to shop

Every thrift/resale shop has a system to clear out clothing that's been there a while.  It's in your best interest to find out what day they begin their 50% sale and shop on the first day for the best selection.  The Goodwill color of the week begins on Sunday.  I like to get their in the afternoon and rummage through all the kid clothes looking for the sale color ticket.  I bought Maria's Christmas dress in October; a beautiful plaid, taffeta, layered dress for $1.50.  She wore the dress about 4 times.  Less than 50 cents a wear!  Another favorite shop of mine has a color of the month, so it's best to get there as close to the first as possible.  Now's a good time to mention shopping ahead.  I keep an eye out looking for items the kids will wear next season and buy them up, especially if they're 50% off.

Tip #5 - Accessories

Shoes, hair accessories, slippers, bathrobes, swimwear, belts, purses, backpacks, winter hats and gloves.  I like to peruse through these items as well.  Often I find mittens for under $1, adorable shoes for under $4.  And if you've shopped for shoes lately, you know what a steal that is.  Kids shoe prices are a racket.

                                                                             ***

From ThredUp

If you'd rather shop from home, ThredUp is a great option.  I've purchased a number of items and everything has come in perfect condition and so well packaged, it feels like I'm buying new clothes. 

Shop through this link, you get $10 to spend and I get $10 to spend.  Thank you.

Hopefully these tips have given you a little insight into the art of thrift shopping.  And with all the money you save shopping smart, you will have enough to keep yourself well-dressed to boot.

Share your shopping tips in the comment section below.

Two Clothing Tips for Kids with Down Syndrome

Today I'm sharing a couple of tips for those of you dressing children with Down syndrome.  Down syndrome brings with it a list of characteristics:  Brushfield spots, almond shaped eyes, gap between big toe and 2nd toe, short legs, rounder middle.  The last two make summer shorts wearing weather great.  Basketball shorts with elastic waist - easy on, look good.  However, as we approach the "Back to School" season, I start thinking cooler days.  That means blue jeans and hoodies.  It can be a trick to find jeans to fit a child with Down syndrome.  And not everyone wants to or knows how to hem jeans.  I've found that OshKosh B'Gosh jeans are an excellent choice.  They offer stylish jeans in a husky version.  I can buy Joseph jeans based on his leg length and the husky waist makes them fit perfectly every time.

Next up is not so much a clothing fit issue as a sanitary issue.  I don't want to share all Joseph's little secrets online, but I do want to share a tip I have for eliminating nighttime Pull-Ups problems.  Basic pajamas are meant to be easy on, easy off.  That easy off part became quite a problem for us a couple of years ago.  I was so frustrated with my pajama options:  blanket sleepers (zippers on the front) and elastic waist bottoms with pullover tops.  Neither stayed on all night, nor did the Pull-Up.  What a mess.  I considered sewing something with a zipper up the back and then ah hah!  Warren and I had an idea to cut the feet off his blanket sleepers and put them on him backwards.  Genius!

See the gap.  It's called Sandal gap deformity.
I cut the feet off his pajamas right below the ankle elastic.

But it was summer and he'd be pretty hot, so we cut off the sleeves just above the elbow.  Perfect!  The neck was slightly gagging him.  I cut a V-notch in the "front" making more room.  Perfectly Genius!

He's been wearing his pajamas this way for at least 2 or 3 years and it's a no-fail option for keeping the pajamas and Pull-Up on.

This is actually a pair of his winter pajamas.  I left the sleeves in tact for warmth.

10 Cent Treasure

The best garage sale purchase of the day. It's amazing how little a mom can spend and how thrilled a little girl can be.

It's True

What's true? Boys grow in spurts. I've heard it from so many moms.

• he grew 6 inches in 6 months
• can't keep him in pants
• his feet grow so fast he never wears the tread off his shoes

I believed it to be true, just never lived it in such a dramatic way as others had. Until now. A month ago Lee needed some new church pants. Not because of growing, just because he'd been wearing the same pair of black cargo pants for probably two years and they were down right worn out. We headed to the basement clothing bins and found two pair of very nice church pants: khaki and black. Just his size; we were both happy. I didn't need to spend money on new pants and he didn't have to endure the dreaded shopping for new clothes outing. Last night at a wedding reception he leaned over to me, saying, I can't eat my supper; my pants are too tight. What? They fit just last week at church; they fit Easter Sunday. I stuck my finger in the waist band and sure enough they were definitely too tight. Then this morning he comes out all dressed for church wearing his black church pants. I looked over and chuckled, bright white socks showed between the hem and shoe at least 3 inches. Again, I exclaimed, What? They just fit a couple weeks ago. Amazing how one boy can wear the same pants for 2 years and then grow out of two pair of pants in just one month. And now I'm one of them; I am a mother who can make comments about the magnitude of boys' growth spurts.

The Long Awaited Capri Pant Wearing Day

I told the girls they could wear their capris on the first forecasted 60 degree day. Well our personal forecast claims it will be 61 today.

A Few Words on Kids Clothes

Years ago when Lee was about 5, dressing him to go anywhere was a nightmare. Nothing fit right, the waistband was too rough, the tag was biting me, the toe seams in the socks were bulky - you get the picture. Church mornings were awful. His drawers were full of clothes and he had nothing to wear (funny, I think I've said that before). Clothes would get pulled out, tried on and never put away. At the end of the day (or week), dirty clothes were mixed with the clean, never worn clothes and I didn't know what was what, so it all went to the wash, making more work for me. I had two problems: one was lack of comfortable clothes and two was too many clothes making more work for me. I solved the problem by having Lee try on EVERY item in his closet and drawers. If it wasn't comfortable it was given away, even if it was just too cute or in great shape. With that step I eliminated over half of his wardrobe. Now with the leftover comfy clothes we divided them into three piles: play clothes, town clothes and church clothes. Absolutely nothing overlaps. Play clothes are put on every morning and can be worn for trapping, painting, rollerblading, gardening and no matter how stained they get it doesn't matter. Town clothes include the basic decent clothing suitable to wear shopping, to the park, out to eat, anywhere public. Church clothes are dressy clothes allowed for church, weddings, Christmas dinners. Once everything was placed in a pile it was easy to see what type of clothing was needed. Since I do laundry nearly everyday, sorting this way kept the number of items manageable. He only needed one pair of church pants and two shirts. This may sound extreme, but it worked well and has been working perfectly for 3 1/2 years now. When it's time to go to town he puts on town clothes and when we return he puts on his play clothes again. This has lessened the laundry as well because play clothes can be worn at home until they are seriously dirty and often times town clothes can be worn again as well. Church mornings were a breeze because the clothing situation was predictable - same pants as last week (he chose these pants from the store), choice of two shirts.

Why hadn't I thought to use this system with the girls clothes as well? It just hit me two weeks ago that something needed to change. Every time Lou needed clothes to match we were at a loss. The drawers were overfull, but nothing matched and just about everything was stained. She tended to wear her favorites for everyday and they ended up getting paint or stain or fudgesicle drips on them. And I haven't had any luck getting those stains out. So one day while all the kids were watching an afternoon movie, I headed into the girls room with a couple of boxes. I cleared their drawers and taped labels to them: Church, Play, Town. Now we use the same system and it's working like a dream. I've eliminated nearly half of their wardrobe making laundering so much easier on me and putting away so much easier on them. Again it's so easy to see where the need is, I don't come away from The Mom Shop with too many town clothes and not enough church clothes. And one last comment about clothes; I do not separate by season. In the play drawer are all seasons of clothes, something only comes out when they truly outgrow it.

For some this may be extreme. It's hard to let go of a perfectly good pastel pink turtleneck; it might match a jumper someday. But it's harder to control the clothing mess that two girls can make in one day. Few choices make decision making very simple; simplicity, something I'm always searching for.

Play Clothes
2 pants
3 shorts
2 long sleeve shirts
3 t-shirts

Town Clothes
2 pants
3 shorts
2 long sleeve shirts
3 t-shirts

Church Clothes
1 dress pants (2 for boys)
2 long sleeve blouses
2 short sleeve tops
3 winter dresses
3 summer dresses