Fifty Two Shades of Shay: Organizing, Saving and Donating your kids' clothes

I feel like I should put some sort of disclaimer on today's post.  Some of you are going to agree with me and some of you are going to think I've lost my mind and should hand over my mom card.   No matter what I say, please remember this...I love my children, I am not a completely insensitive human being, and I do have a heart...

Today, we're talking about getting rid of your kids' clothes (and let's just go ahead and say their artwork and craft projects too).

Yes.  I'm going to ask you to part with your kids' stuff.  Bear with me.  Deep breaths.  It will be ok.  (Some of you already toss your kids' stuff like crazy, so this doesn't apply to you.)

A few disclaimers:

1. My mother doesn't save anything.  Really and truly nothing.  I come by this honestly.

2. My mother's mother doesn't save anything either.  Nothing.  My mom comes by it honestly.

3. I knew my mother's mother's mother (my great-grandmother Lockey Brooks) pretty well before she passed away and she didn't seem like a saver herself.  She seemed like a toss it and don't cry about it kind of gal...so you see, we come by it naturally.

I clean out my kids' closets several times a year (with each new season) and am ruthless about what I keep and what I toss (and when I say toss, I mean give to someone else or donate...I never throw away their clothes).  Here's why I'm so ruthless...

Yes, their stuff is cute.  Yes, I have vivid memories of how precious they looked in it when they were babies.  Yes, I think back to those wonderful times and I cling to the knowledge that I remember the day I bought it at Baby Gap and then the days that they wore it and it was so sweet blah, blah, blah...but the bottom line is that at some point, all of these baby/little kid clothes are going to be someone's problem/junk/precious garage space, so I might as well clean it out now, give it to someone who will truly appreciate it and use and move on.

When I say that it will eventually become someone's problem/junk, I rationalize it this way...

If Andrew's mom showed up at my house one day with bins and bins of Andrew's baby and kid clothes and told me she had been saving it for 32 years and wanted us to have it, I would be irritated.  What am I supposed to with his baby stuff?  I don't need it.  I'm not sentimentally attached to it.  It would be in my way.  And then, I would put it in the garage and it would be in Andrew's way.  And we would both consider it junk.  (And let's say she kept it at her house until she was gone...when that day arrives, Andrew and I aren't going to be interested in any old baby clothes...we'll most likely be 65!). 

  I don't want my old baby stuff.  I don't want Andrew's old baby stuff.  I am so thankful our moms didn't hang on to it because it would have been wasted on us.  This is why I donate and don't save...because I know that one day, Kensington and Smith (and their spouses) don't want their old Gap onesie taking up precious garage space...but some people right now, do want those onesies and will be thrilled to have them, so I feel like I'm making better use of these items now and not hoarding them for the future.

So, here is my solution...

At our house, each child has one bin.  One.  And that is their bin of stuff I feel like I should keep forever.  Just one bin.  Right now in their bins, they each have about 6 items.  They each have the outfits they were wearing when they came home from the hospital.  Kensington has a dress in hers that my mom bought her in Italy, Smith has his first little Kansas State onesie...things like that.  I've also included Kensington's favorite book from when she was about 12 months old and Smith's favorite little stuffed animal from when he was a baby.  There is plenty of room left for other items we acquire over the next 18 years or so and don't want to part with.  This way, I can hand each kid one box some day and they can truly appreciate the items inside and perhaps really treasure them instead of handing them 425 bins of old outfits that become meaningless.

This is how we roll at the Shull house.  But don't fret!  I have a system for how things get into this box...

First, I go into one of their closets and sort through the things that I know don't fit or that I really don't think they'll wear again.  Then, I place those items in a big sack at the bottom of each of their closets...

...this would be Kensington's big sack.  

Every six months or so when the big sack is over-flowing (like on this day), I then go back through the sack to make sure we still don't want or need these items before I give them away.  

I love this method for a few reasons, first of all, if after cleaning out her closet, I realize that she still does need that little jacket, it's not already donated...it's just right there in the sack.  (Because sometimes we are quick when we clean out closets and later regret giving something away.)  And then I also love this method because I feel like I'm less sentimental the second time I consider giving it away (the first time I realize she will no longer wear something, it's kind of sad...six months later, I realize that yup, she can't wear that any more, we need to give it to someone who can).  It's when I'm cleaning out the big sack that I select items for their one big bin.  I really think it helps keep me from donating things I'm really not done with and it helps me not be too sentimental.

So, there you have it.  You asked.  I answered.  This is how I clean out my kids' closets.

Of course if you're not done having children, this method wouldn't work as well for you because I'm sure you are saving clothes for subsequent children...but when you reach that point when you know you're done, this is what I recommend you do.

I mentioned their artwork above too and that stuff also goes in their one bin.  As much as I love my kids' things...I absolutely cannot keep everything they draw/make/create/build or you people would see me on a different kind of reality TV show...Hoarders.

I pick special pieces to go in their bin.  My hope is that one day, I can give each of them their one bin with a few clothing items, stuffed animals, maybe a blanket and a few pieces of art and they'll truly appreciate their things.  But if you don't think you can do this, don't fret.  Just give each of them two bins.  Or three.  Just scale it back a bit...life is just so much better uncluttered.

If you have organizing tips, please, please, please share!  I would love to hear your tips too!

On the foodie blog today...

...an easy ice cream sandwiches made with Red Velvet Ice Cream!!  I was flipping out over this stuff!

And don't forget, Sheaffer's birthday week continues!

You should make an ice cream sandwich and then go check out Sheaffer's blog!

And one last thing!!  So many of you asked about the cute Back To School party that my friend Andrea threw for us on Sunday (from my Instagram pics)...well, she did a blog post about it just for you.  It was the cutest party!  Andrea always outdoes herself!  See all the details here.

XOXO

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