Am I the only one who gets attached to my kids clothes? A year ago, I had tubs and tubs of clothes stacked around our basement. I just couldn't part with them. It's ridiculous really.
Every once in a while, I'd feel this need to cut down the number of tubs so I'd pull up a stool and start sorting through bins. About a 1/2 hour into it, I'd realize that I was much too far down memory lane to call this a productive use of my time. I'd pull out an outfit and compare it to my kids current size. I'd mentally recall up what they looked like at that age... in the cute outfits. After a while, I'd pack it all up thinking that "someday" I'd thin the herd of tubs.
I'm proud to say that the day finally came. I released the clothes. My basement does not look like a Rubbermaid warehouse anymore. It's the ultimate spring clean! Here's what got me through the job...tag, you're it!
1. Have a sale. You have money sitting in your basement! Sell the clothes and gear before it goes out of style. Use the money to reward yourself for a job well done or buy some new cute outfits and gear that you need!
2. If you don't want to deal with the headache and work of a sale, give it away. We all have a friend or neighbor who could use some hand-me-downs. A few tips...ask if they want it first and have an understanding on what they are to do with it when their kids out grow it.
3. Remind yourself that you can buy new clothes and gear if you need it. I think one of the big excuses we use is the thought that we might just have one more kid. So, we NEED all this stuff. In truth, keep the 0-3 mo. unisex stuff. You can buy new or gently used items later if you really do need it.
4. If the task seems overwhelming, start by sorting out the stained and damaged items. You are not going to put another child in a shirt with spit up stains. Turn it into rags or pitch it already.
5. Dream about what you could do with the space you gain. Creating more space in your house should be huge motivation!
Leave a comment...what have you done to keep your tubs in check?
9 comments:
oh my goodness! Don't get me started on kids clothes and keepsakes! I hate rumage sales even more!
You.are.a.blogging.animal.Jen.
I particularly find the yellow stained onesies to be stomach turning. Blech!
I've given up on having my own garage sale though...to much of a headache. My new way to keep tubs out of my basement is to giveaway the decent clothes and consighn the trendy, great condition clothes at Village Kids.
I'm bad about this too. I finally decided, there are a few clothes I can't part with, so I kept them, in ONE tote. The rest go to neighbors. How can I know that there are other people in need who could use them and I'm STORING them! I do have several boxes of baby clothes from my boy (he's 16 months) I need to go through, but I'm also stuck on the maybe I'll have one more. Thanks for the inspiration
I at one point had saved just about everything my boys wore because we are planning on having another child. When we moved in Dec. of 2008 I went through the tubs and threw away anything stained. That left me with like 8 tubs. A friend just recently had a baby and I went through them all again and gave her a bunch of stuff. Then I went through the boys clothes again and I still have 8 tubs!
I have a hard time getting rid of things, but then again I have 4 boys, so I tend to keep everything and just pass it down. However, the baby stuff one day really does have to go! lol
Oh I am so guilty! Although I have 6 littles, ages 7 and under with no sign of stopping, so I can't unfortunately get rid of much!
AhHaa! This is me! I didn't make it in time for your giveaway..bummer...But I will certainly be checking back for more stories and of course giveaways!
Oh, yes, the tubs. We have them stacked in all sorts of nooks, wherever they will fit really. And the really sad thing, I actually have sold a lot, my daughter just has so much!
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