It's our first year of preschool and we made it through the first week with little drama. To keep things running smoothly, we've instituted a new way of organizing our preschoolers outfits to minimize time spent digging through drawers and closets. What's our tip?
We pre-package our outfits. We got this great tip from this previous post about organized trip packing, but have adopted it for every day. On laundry day, we spend a few extra minutes putting clothing separates together as outfits and package them into ziploc bags. Instead of labeling them by days of the week, we organize them in batches - warm weather (shorts and short sleeves); cooler weather (shorts and long sleeves); and cold weather (pants and long sleeves). In the morning we check the weather report and then goto to the right drawer and pull out a bag and voila! Instant outfit. Then we store the ziploc bags into a bin next to the laundry to be used again for a clean outfit. When autumn really sets in we'll dispense with the warm weather clothing and life will be even more simple.
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I like it. My baby isn't here yet, but I know toddlers really want to make choices...you could have them choose a bag from the appropriate weather pile and avoid further discussions of what socks, shirt, etc.
view TheLittlestChicken's profile
This actually seems much more complicated to me and a lot less fun. I can see it working well on vacations or maybe even on those mornings when a few minutes makes all the difference, but every day including weekends? Might as well buy a uniform and save even more time by eliminating choice altogether.
view icicle's profile
Get one of those 5-shelf closet things to organize the outfits and avoid using all those plastic bags.
view e_liz's profile
I have a 2.5 year old clothes horse. She cares deeply what she wears, down to the socks and undies. I got the 5 shelf closet hanging thing and I put 5 acceptable outfits in there, with socks and undies, too. She gets to "pick a bin" on count to 3 or I pick for her. No fussing so far. If she starts to say she does not want "those socks" I say "well, that's what was in the bin!" and distract her with choosing a barrette. Right now I have bins with pants with a long and short sleeve top in there and if she picks that bin I decide what top based on the weather. I put very similar tops so she has yet to notice the switcheroo. Or I put a short sleeve and a sweater and then leave the sweater if it's warm.
Ziplocks would worry me for the very idea that she could open them and put one over her head!
This idea, I hope will last a while and stave off the battles until junior high.
view aj914's profile
What is this "5 shelf closet hanging thing" of which you all speak?
view ricestein's profile
wow, that's a lot of plastic.
view k1ate's profile
i too would find an alternate to the ziploc bags. we have a cheap drawr unit from target with five canvas drawers, i could see putting shoes on top for that day and having mon-fri picked out and in the drawer....although i am not at that point yet.
ricestein here is a "cars" type of closet thingy. they have white ones too....
http://www.target.com/Disney-Storage-Organizer-Childrens-Products/dp/B0017KED50/ref=br_1_3?ie=UTF8&frombrowse=1&searchView=grid5&searchNodeID=3073811&node=3073811&searchRank=pmrank&searchPage=2&searchSize=90&id=Disney%20Storage%20Organizer%20Childrens%20Products
view jackied302's profile
You could use a clothes pin or two to clip a folded outfit together, instead of using bags.
I just let my kids dress themselves, matching or weather-appropriateness be damned. Everyone is happier and, darn if they don't have some mad stylin' skills.
view avimom's profile