Too many clothes! - Tidy up Tuesday

April 5, 2011 by Barbara.

Reid has a lot of clothes. I’m not sure exactly how it happens. I remember distinctly deciding to buy 5 pair of stretchy pants, 1 pair of jeans, a similar number of tips and a dress for fall/winter. I may have neglected to check the dresser where the amazingly cheap but too big clothes are stored until Reid can wear them. As time passed, she needed (I’m sure it was need and not my wanting) a pair of black velour pants to match her new red shirt for the Christmas singalong. (There was another name for the event officially but we sang two songs about Hannukah and that’s about it.  In any case, it’s a different story entirely.) Plus, there are people in Reid’s life who buy her clothes. Who am I to deny them this small pleasure?

And so it was that Reid’s dresser drawers came to look like this:

At first - in honour of this Tidy up Tuesday post - I started piling the long-sleeved shirts together and laying them next to the short-sleeved ones. But then it struck me how I almost never see some of these shirts on Reid. Also, the piles were dauntingly high. Being a woman of action (when forced, like when I’ve decided to blog about tidying something up), I chose a different strategy. I began putting outfits together: shirts, pants, underwear and socks. Oh, how proud my mother would be!

In the end, Reid’s drawers look more like this:

There are a few orphan shirts in another drawer. The orange one, bought especially for black and orange day at school, for example, is waiting for a suitable pair of pants to come from the wash. I counted 22 bundles in the main drawer. That’s more than 3 weeks of outfits, if you’re counting and that doesn’t include the dresses in the closet.

The bundle system is working very well in the mornings, as well. I grab one out and hand it to Reid. She has - so far - put the clothes on without protest. Once I she noticed a second bundle and mixed and matched from the clothes in the two but as long as she doesn’t see another option, she hasn’t asked. Many of the clothes are on a farewell tour. The shirts are showing belly and the pants are showing ankles. By the time we’ve gone through them all, it should be short-sleeved shirt and capri time. I’ll just have to be more careful as I shop. No, really!

I’m thankful for Sara at My Points of View for her Tidy up Tuesday inspiration. Check out who else is participating and the challenge Sara has issued. You might find some inspiration that you can borrow.

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