Getting Organized
July 6, 2009 by Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor
Filed under mothering
As the mom of three children, I need to be efficient with my time and energy. Over the long holiday weekend, my husband and I unpacked and organized some of our belongings. Generally I like to stay away from plastic tubs for organizing things, but the laundry baskets and plastic bags weren’t cutting it to store all of my three daughters’ hand-me-down clothes. It’s hard for each girl to let go of her things as she outgrows them, and I would get everything organized only to find that sneaky hands had stolen into the baskets and plucked out old favorites, leaving a pile of other clothes on the floor. I finally gave in, and here is the result:
Tubs for hand-me-down clothes, diapers, and ski clothes
My 11.5-month-old now wears size 12-18 months, so I set aside all of the smaller clothes to go to my nephew (he arrives in October) or the thrift store. The rest I organized in tubs for each size: 12-18 months, 2T/24 months, 3T, 4T, and 5/6. There’s an extra tub for cloth diapers not in use, and out-of-season ski clothing. Each tub is also further organized by category: pants, dresses, shirts, jackets etc.
4T clothes organized by type
What’s your best tip for getting — and staying — organized?
I’m impressed!
(as a totally unorganized person I’m always awed by more structured minds than mine)
The best I can do is to store smaller clothes in plastic bags, ready to go to my niece – or store them in the attic, hoping I won’t forget and find them way too late.
My mom stores stuff in suitcases (don’t know why exactly), but her memory is better than mine – while she actually remembers putting what in where, I’m always surprised to find long-forgotten clothes or childrens’ shoes – way too small by the time I find them.
We have the same setup as you do in our basement for clothes that have already been outgrown by my little one and for ones that she doesn’t yet fit into — clothes that have come from my niece and from a good friend. Without this organization, I’d have no idea which clothes were which and we’d likely miss out on wearing some of them. It’s hard to stay organized in general though, but I like to think I’m getting better at it. My husband is much more organized than I am. I think we’re hard-wired to be organized or not.