Ready or not here comes the cold weather – and a snow day already! If you haven’t packed up those short sleeve shirts, shorts and flip-flops yet, it’s definitely time to now. It can be overwhelming trying to swap seasons out, especially if you have more than one child. I’m going to share a couple tips on how to make a smooth transition.
Storage containers are key to keeping things organized. You can label them and even color coordinate per child. For example: my son has blue storage containers and my daughter has pink and purple ones. I’m a visual person so this is a HUGE help when going to grab something in a hurry.
- If possible do this when child is taking a nap, at school or at grandma’s. You can incorporate them into this project but I am far more productive when doing this alone. (My toddler ends up mixing all the clothing together, as you can imagine.)
- Start out by removing all of the summer clothing from the drawers and closet. Having the fall/winter things out all at the same time is calling for a disaster. Fold and place clothing in correct stacks (shirts together, shorts together etc).
- Have a storage container labeled with child’s name and type of clothing. For example, you may want to have one container with shorts or one with just shirts, one with shoes, one with swimming gear etc. You can combine clothing as well – I usually put shirts and shorts together.
- Have a “giveaway” pile. These are items that you can pass on to a friend or family member, donate or consign. Consigning is a great option that can help purchase current season clothing. I call it clothes-cycling because you are recycling the money you spent on prior season to purchase current season. This really helps to keep clothing budget low.
- Use each drawer for a different type of clothing. My son’s armoire has 4 drawers and a 2 section cabinet on one side. The top drawer is for shirts. I put long-sleeve and a couple t-shirts. Second drawer holds jeans, khaki pants, dress pants. Third drawer contains sweatpants/lounge pants. Last drawer stores pajamas. It is helpful to keep them organized because when you ask your child to pick out an outfit, they will know exactly where each item is. I hang up his button up shirts, jackets and special occasion outfits.
- Shoes can be difficult to keep organized. Since my son still wears smaller sizes, I have a large basket that is in his armoire on top shelf. I have them neatly stacked by pairs. This works for now but I can see that he will soon outgrow the basket so I have purchased an “over the door” shoe organizer. His socks are also stored in a basket beside the shoe basket.
- Accessories. My daughter has an abundance of headbands, sock shoes and hats. In her room I have a thirty-one small organizing bin full of headbands, a small basket with the sock shoes and a drawer for her hats. You can be creative in how you store these items; this is just what is practical for me.
The dreaded season swap doesn’t have to be so bad. Just follow these few simple steps and you will be organized and in the current season in no time.
Season Swap
Jessica Fox, Contributor
