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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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Find me on Instagram @mixandmatchmama
Aubrey says
Love it! I am currently hanging on to 32 Rubbermaid bins full of little girl clothes. I CANNOT WAIT for our third daughter to outgrow each size so I can FIND A NEW HOME for all that stuff!!!
Sallie says
From someone who has just cleaned out my parent's home, as well as my in -laws after their deaths, YOU are the SMART one! Not only was there my baby stuff, but they had their baby stuff….yes, interesting to see, but 85 years later, it had to be tossed!
The memory will NOT be lost with the clothing or craft project. Take a picture, and throw away!!
Judi Fox says
LOVE this!!! I really appreciate how detailed you were in your description for going through your things. Thanks for sharing!
Natalie says
I'm with you, my mom didn't hold on to stuff and I don't feel the need to either. my husband's mom and stepmom on the other hand… they held onto all sorts of stuff and we don't know what to do with it!
Jenny Rackers says
Great post! I LOVE organization and totally agree on everything you said!!!
Kristen Boyle says
Love this post. I have been on the receiving end of my husbands stuffed animals from 35years ago. They didn't even enter our house. I felt bad, but we really didn't want them taking up space, nor did I want my kids playing with dusty, old animals! I also take a picture of my kids projects and create a photo book of their work then throw the piece away!
Tara G. says
We are military and not only do we have to pack/unpack frequently, we have a weight limit. And I never know what my storage space will be. So we also clean out often. I take pictures of artwork or little notes the kids give me and thwn toss. My hope is to make an album, but we need to stop moving to find time. 🙂
Anonymous says
Great post Shay! Thanks for taking the time to write it. I hope you do another one about toys! I have such a hard time getting rid of my son's toys. You probably go through your kids toys quite often and just donate the ones they no longer play with. I need to start doing that. My house is overflowing with toys. I try to keep everything! You may see me on hoarders one of these days (just kidding!). Hopefully, I can apply your tips and become less sentimenal about clothes, toys, art, etc. My mom didn't keep all of my stuff like that so I don't know why I am keeping all of my son's stuff. Wish I were more like you…
Sheaffer {Pinterest Told Me To} says
THIS IS SUCH A GOOD POST. I don't hold on to a lot of stuff either, but your method makes it sound so easy!
Sheaffer {Pinterest Told Me To} says
And thanks for the birthday love again! I can always count on you for a shout out. 🙂 Love you!
Katherine says
Ugh..I hate getting rid of anything, but your rationale actually makes sense. And the big bag method? Love. I will have to take baby steps, but I think I'm going to start doing this.
Caravan Sonnet says
SO I don't have kids, but anyone that knows me knows that for a while it was really hard for me to get rid of lots of different things that I judged were "special". But several years ago I started thinking about ALL of the things that I had and realized that I needed to be a "little more ruthless". (I probably could have used this post at the time – but honestly I might have had a heart attack! hahaha) After moving several times and then my health issues happening I can't stress enough how glad that I was that I did this BEFORE the crisis' hit. When you hit these types of things the LAST thing that you want is STUFF. You want the people you love the most, the memories, and the TIME more than any specific thing. I do have one suggestion though for those that were like me (that really helped me at the time). Anything that I was struggling giving away because of sentimental value I took a picture of. I have one photo album of just these pictures and that helped with some of the "separation anxiety" that I think some people experience. 🙂 Thanks for challenging us in this post to remember what is truly important Shay!
🙂 Rebecca
Amy Lynn says
Shay, I love how you literally have a method for EVERYTHING. You are so wise beyond your years. Love it. I don't have littles yet, but when I do, I will definitely be a donator. I cannot stand clutter and my husband is the opposite…he wants to keep everything! However, she who cleans, wins.
kristinwithani says
Would you come to my house?
Meagan @ The Clanahan Fam says
Oh I love this! I need to get my husband to read it. He likes to hang onto stuff for the "just in case". Thank goodness I'm in charge of the kids' closets. Great idea on filling the bag in the child's closet. There have been a few times where I've had to go back through my donated bins and realized that some of the stuff I was going to give away still fits or we still like or whatever.
We are in this in between phase, not sure if we are done having kids but pretty sure we are – so we are holding onto some stuff but getting rid of the big things. Crazy – I just want to be "bin-free"!
As for artwork, I saved the twin's most precious pieces in here for preschool last year and there's still plenty of room for this year – we love these. They fit easily at the top of a closet and our kids love going & putting their special projects away.http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/product/productDet.jsp?productItemID=1%2C689%2C949%2C371%2C918%2C891&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=1408474395181113&bmUID=1376397858510 As for the rest of their "artwork" — it gets 1 week on the fridge and then trash. And we only have one "piece" up at a time. No clutter on my fridge 🙂
Sharon says
When i began reading I figured, oh no you have to keep SOME stuff…but you do. In fact, very similar to what I did, important outfits. What they wore home from the hospital, the pretty little velvet matching Christmas dresses I made them one year, the flowergirl dress my daughter wore when she was 3 (which btw, her 3 year old cousin wore it at her wedding) and SOME artwork. I tried to just keep important things. My husbands mom kept NOTHING and I am so disappointed to have nothing of his from when he was little. Like the hat they tell me he loved so much he wore it to bed..who could throw that out…but she did. So I agree with you totally, keep some, get rid of the rest. I have one big bin in the basement labelled "Important kid stuff" but I should do as you and divide it into one for each of them.
Anonymous says
When we had our first child, my mil brought me a huge bag of bottles and nipples she used for her kids! Gross! Thank goodness I nursed so I didn't have to hurt her feelings, but I was so irritated!
Amy McCown says
This is a good post. My parents are huge savers, but I was less than thrilled when they dropped of 10 boxes of toys and clothes from my childhood that did not really hold up in storage. I bought a small file box for the kids school papers and have organized them by year/grade. They are in the top of their closets and we actually look through them every few months. After our next baby we are going to purge and we will be using the one tub per kid rule.
MorganizewithMe says
I am with you on your thought process, totally! My kids each have one bin too. 🙂 I love the idea of the sack in the closet, I'm such an agressive purger, that at times I have wished I didn't get rid of something so quickly.
Sarah says
You have some great ideas and I love the 1 bin per child idea! One idea I've heard about is scanning artwork. I don't have much experience with that yet, but we may try that once Savannah starts preschool in the fall. Thanks for the blog advice a couple weeks ago!
Anonymous says
I also make a photo book of their artwork. My system that all art goes in a bin for a whole year. Then I photograph each thing that is worthy of being in the book and then toss 99.9% of it. I also don't want a million photo books around so each kid gets only two…one for preschool art and one for elementary school art.
Casey says
My question is, what do you tell your kids if they ask about a particular piece of artwork that you have thrown away? My daughter remembers everything she has ever made and seems genuinely sad if I tell her I've thrown something away.
Melanie Lien says
My husbands mom dumped several several bins at our house when they moved across country. I am not into clutter and love getting rid of things. I was so foul when that showed up at my house! I would have appreciated a momma like you!
Alice says
I do the same as you. But I keep the handprint/footprint artwork and stick it in our file cabinet in their own file. I also only keep important things (first outfit, first pair of walking shoes, special toy, etc) and then the rest I give to friends, consign, or donate.
Anonymous says
You could be a professional organizer. I would hire you in a heartbeat to help me organize my house. 🙂
chodgkiss says
Have you ever thought about selling any of your kids clothes on your blog?? Like a kids clothing blog sale?? I would love it if you would!!:)
chodgkiss says
Have you ever thought about having a kids clothing blog sale?? Would love it if you would!!:)
Anonymous says
Amen Sister! I also adhere to your organizing philosophy! I have a couple of younger children at church that I donate all of my kids old clothes too. It makes me feel good that they appreciate it so much, and I also enjoy seeing these children at church on Sunday wearing a cute outfit that I remember my kids wearing. It's just nice to see someone else enjoying it! An option for artwork or school projects that I do is, I bought a big expandable file type thing for each child and label the tabs "preschool" – "12th grade", and I just file special things in there from each year of school, etc… My kids are 10 and 12 and they enjoy flipping through looking at something they made in Kindergarten. Thanks! I enjoy your blog! Amy Allen
Kristen Sass says
My mom holds on to everything…and I mean EVERYTHING! She gets so offended when I tell her I don't want the clothes I wore 27 years ago for my daughter. We plan on having a third so haven't been able to donate yet, but I can't wait to get rid of the boxes and boxes of baby clothes! Thanks for the tips. LOVE this post!
Liz/happymommy says
Love this and I am with you on not keeping all that stuff. We just had our 2nd daughter 6 months ago and it actually is so nice that she can reuse all her sisters clothes but as she starts outgrowing them, bam, they are donated. It has made me crazy just to keep the bins I already have but know I need to as she grows and wears these same clothes. We are done having children so my bins will slowly start going away every few months. Yes, I do keep a few things like the outfit they wore coming home from the hospital or something of other signifigance but the rest….i don't have room for that stuff. I have never been a keeper of things to begin with….simplier is better in my mind as well!
As for the art work…..right now I have a good amount of it BUT not all of it becasue what I do with ones that I really like but don't actually need to keep the real thing, I take pictures of certain ones and put them in a book of artwork of sorts and then we have what they looked like but don't have to keep every single actual item. Now, i don't take a picture of everything but you get what i mean.
Great post!
One Crazy Blessed Mama/Boozer Bunch says
Maybe I should have you come over and get rid of stuff while I'm not looking, I hang on to everything and its ridiculous, lol!
Mandy says
I love this idea! I don't have children, but I could certainly use the bin method for myself to declutter my closet and house.
aprilparrish says
Great post!!!
Carroll says
My husband will LOVE this post! We don't have kiddos yet, but I am definitely pinning this organizational strategy for the future. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Anonymous says
Thank you so much for the great tips. I´ve been looking for something that would work for me and I just found it 🙂 I will start right away!!
Karina in Norway:-)
Anonymous says
I have 4 children and each one of them have a large rubbermaid tote in our attic closet. To keep their papers/art projects I want to keep organized I have 4 very small totes in my hall closet with their names on them. Once those totes are full I go through them to see if I really want to keep everything. Normally once a year. After that they get emptied into their totes. Found that this really helps with the clutter during the school year.
Audrey says
There are some great ideas out there for "saving" your kids artwork without literally having to save it. There is a free app called Art My Kid Made (it's free too!) where you can snap a pic of the artwork (edit if you so choose), save it (as well as the option to backup to Evernote and/or Dropbox), Tweet/FB it if you are super proud of the artistic skills shown by your child as evidence they will be the next Van Gogh, and later make a book of all their artwork. There is also a virtual refrigerator where you can "hang" pieces. It's a pretty cute app! I also really like the idea of scanning their artwork and then printing them in a very scaled down size and putting in a big frame (either in collage form or where each artwork piece has a slot/opening in the mat of the frame). There are pictures of this idea on Pinterest if anyone wants to see examples (and probably additional ideas too!).
Anonymous says
Love this! I think it's great you donate the clothes, but have you heard of thredup.com? They take women's and kids clothes (12 months and up). Basically, you order a bag online for free, they ship it to you for free. Fill it up with name brand clothes and ship it back for free. I was sort of skeptical, because I really wasn't sure how much $$$ to expect in return. I sent three bags in, mostly of my own clothes and made $150. They list everything that they bought from you on their website along with how much they paid for every item. The only downside is that you have to pay $10 to have your clothes returned if they don't buy them. I skipped that because I would have just donated my clothes anyway.
I clean my kids closets out a lot – but I also get rid of my own clothes if I'm not wearing them while they are still in style. I'd rather get rid of the stuff I don't wear and have more $$$ to buy new clothes for myself 🙂
Anna H. says
Craft work/art projects/drawings, etc stay on the fridge for about a week and then get put in the recycling bin. I keep "firsts" (i.e. the first time she wrote her name, the first time she drew a rainbow) and anything with hand or foot prints. It's all in a file bin in the basement divided by year. I can't wait to find out the sex of our current baby, so I know if I can give away our multiple boxes of girls' clothes! Thanks for all the tips!
Stacy Brown says
Loved this post! I had to laugh as I thought how dismayed I was when we got a van load of my husband's old stuff. Most have been donated
Jaren says
I have a very similar system when I clean out closets each season. Now that we have our third and final child, it feels so good to get rid of it all as they outgrow it. I like the idea of having that one special bin.
Kelly Olson says
I love this. I do something similar, since I'm on my first and hope more are coming, after the clothes go in the first bin I then separate them into what I want to keep for another kid and what I want to donate or even toss (I thankfully got some hand-me downs from some friends that won't last for another kid) I also learned that some types of clothes might not make it to another kid and thus its better to give away- ie elastic doesn't hold up in bins in a hot garage/shed for very long. Also I'll separate things that can be gender neutral so I can use them on the next kid no matter what gender we are blessed with. Thanks for your tips, it gives me new motivation to get my act together again. 🙂
Anonymous says
This post is very motivating! I would also love to know how you organize your photos!
Martha Jane Alexander says
I love this post!!! I have a three year old and have a similar technique! I recently took all of the items I wanted to keep of his first three years and I'm having a quilt made! I thought that would be a great "keepsake" that he could one day pass on to his children….
Elaine~ Honey Pie Accessories says
I've had to save all of my oldest daughter's clothes, because I have two younger daughters! I get rid of anything that is stained or that I really don't like, and then the rest goes in bins divided by months/age, then I go through the box when the next child is that age and pull out what she can wear. I'm so relieved to finally be able to sell and donate clothes as soon as my youngest grows out of them! I can't wait to not have as many cluttered bins in our closets again! I agree w/ you on only saving the really sentimental pieces (what they wore home from the hospital or a really special outfit). On artwork, it all gets tossed. I take a picture of them, and then upload to shutterfly and make an artwork book at the end of every school year.
Kelly Stamps says
We are soul sisters.
My Mom IS a saver. Oh my goodness – she has every scrap of paper I ever wrote on, every toy, most of my clothes.
I SAVE NOTHING. Scott is the sentimental one. Someone had borrowed our girls' bouncy seat and I put it in the garage to take to goodwill. I found it back in our laundry room with a paper attached to it that said "Don't give this away". ha ha ha! He won't let me give the baby stuff away.
I do clothes the same way and it's kind of like therapy for me to go through their closets every few months.
Becky says
I'm the one who got bins and bins and bins of my husband's stuff from when he was a kid. Every single birthday card he ever got…even the generic ones from the dentist. Soooo obnoxious. I think his parents think I'M the weird one for not saving every little thing. Sheesh!
Now that we are done having kids, I am enjoying donating or passing on to friends the things we are done with!
Lesley says
I am so with you. My mother is a big saver and I am not. I can't stand the clutter and space it takes up. I also do the one bin thing for both of my kids. My daughter loves to look through it every now and then and ask me about everything.
Anonymous says
One thing I learned is that if you save too much you and your children will never go through it….just too overwhelming. However, if you save a few special things you are more likely to go though the bin once a year or so. For instance, one or two report cards from special teachers instead of every report card from every year. Makes sense.
Teri says
Just found this post and love it. I had to laugh because my mother in law has sent me my husbands old stuff which smelled like moth balls! Sent some artwork too. I can't throw it away in case she is visiting and asks to see it. Horrible! I'm in the process of cleaning out and tossing old kids stuff so this post makes me feel better. I am gong to scan all their artwork and have a bound book made. Toss everything else!! Thanks again. Love your blog.
Karla says
OH my word, I hope I can scale down to one bin. I LOVE the idea of simplicity, organization, and having items seem more special because they were selected to fit in that one bin. I want to be there, but I'm not yet. I've always been a saver, worried I might need something I got rid of but can't afford to rebuy it. I'll get there someday…..living in clutter is no fun either!!!! Do you have advice on how to organize papers….bills, statements, etc. I know a lot of things nowadays are just online, but do you have a easy method of that life kinda of organization? If you've already blogged about it, can you direct me that way? I am SO disorganized in this part of life and it's only getting worse as I get older!