Thursday, July 29, 2010

Sorting kids clothes: a second job

It sounds easy, right? Sort out the outgrown kids clothes. Well, it's not. Let me know tell you a bit about the (at least) twice yearly process I go through.

The consignment stores are now taking fall clothes which is my cue to start combing through the kids closets. I go through the closets and drawers of each child and take out what is too small. Then I divide the clothes into the fall pile, and the summer pile. The summer pile gets put into a storage bin and gets dealt with in the early spring since I can't consign any of it right now. The fall pile (and anything that was put in a storage bin last fall) is now ready to be sorted. I have to ask myself the following questions:

Is this in good condition/no stains? If not, it goes to donation pile. If it is in good condition, is it an item that a) a friend could use? or b)is it nice enough that the consignment store will take it? After that decision is made it either goes in the friend bag, or the consignment pile. If it goes into the consignment pile, it also has to be put on a hanger. (Do I have enough hangers? What if the hanger has a different size listed on it?-- then I take of the size clip. What is the best hanger for this item?)

Other things I think about as well is whether an item that was worn last fall may still fit this fall, and for how long? Since my son is not outgrowing his clothes quite as fast now, this can be a tricky question.

Further, once all the sorting is done, the closets and drawers need to reorganized, and made ready for the upcoming seasons clothes. At that point I can see what they will need for the next season.
(not my clothes... for illustrative purposes only)
Oh, and then I need to haul all the various clothes to the donation center, to my friends, and to the consignment stores! With two kids in tow! Sheesh!

No comments: