Hi guys, it's Melissa from CloudMom talking today about how I manage to organize the clothing
for five kids.
I've had a couple of moms ask me this question, so I just wanted to share with you what I
do in my house.
First, when it comes to back-to-school and clothing shopping in general, for me, the
bulk of the clothes that most of my kids are wearing are hand-me-downs, especially my boys
and then my younger girls.
So, what I really try to do is not to buy before I know what I need because often times
I actually forget, and I feel very lucky to be saying that I have this problem, but what
I do with seasons, for example, my three boys share a closet and my two girls share a closet.
And when it's the winter, I put their summer clothes up top in containers, and when it's
the summer, I have the winter clothes up there.
So, back-to-school is always tricky.
I'm usually not really prepared in August to buy jeans and sweaters and things like
that 'cause I'm not really sure what they have any more, and I don't really know what
I need.
And one good thing about where we live, we live in New York City, it's actually quite
warm in September.
So they can get by still wearing their stuff from the summer, especially with a cardigan
or something like that.
So I don't really have to buy the back-to-school stuff until later on, like September.
So, one thing I've really learned is to try to have a sense of what I need before I buy,
and then to really try not to buy more than I know that they will use.
I see with my boys, they really live in a couple of pairs of jeans and then they have
one or two nice pairs of pants which we use for major holidays, Thanksgiving, Christmas,
and for church, and that's it.
And the girls, probably, I've gone a little more crazy.
They have more dresses and they wear sometimes things that are a little nicer when they go
to school.
Sorry guys.
But same thing, I try to look at what they have and make sure that I need something before
I buy it and also 'cause we don't have the space.
Okay, so that's the number one thing I do when it comes to clothes, try to know what
I have before I buy.
And, second, brands.
Being busy, five kids, the business, whatever, I really actually don't shop around much for
new brands.
I have my go-to brands and that's it.
And call me boring, but that's what works for me.
I heavily rely on The Children's Place for a lot of stuff, from girl's sandals to boy's
jeans, you get them on sale under $10.
I think the quality is really good.
I love shopping the sales at Hanna Andersson.
You'll see my kids in the striped pajamas from there.
I was devastated when my older son told me this summer he doesn't wanna wear those baby
pajamas anymore.
I'm like, "Oh, no.
What am I gonna do?"
But I shop those sales.
I know when they are and I tend to wait until the prices have been reduced once or twice,
but not until the very end when the sale's really picked over 'cause then I think it's
harder to get the good stuff.
So that's what I do.
And I don't buy and invest in a lot of new stuff because I don't have the time for the
trial-and-error to make sure it's right or sending it back and all that.
Okay, hand-me-downs.
I have few beloved friends including two of my best friends, Tamela and Julia.
They have older girls.
I have relied heavily on their hand-me-downs.
They've given me beautiful coats, they've given me shoes, sandals, snow gear, snow suits.
Unbelievable.
So when they clean out their closets, I'm so lucky, I get this great bag and it's always
wonderful stuff, useful stuff.
So, call me bold, call me obnoxious, but I'll even ask them, "Okay, what's coming down the
pipeline?" because if they're about to hand me over two pairs of shoes, I don't have to
go and buy them.
That's a lot of money saved.
I wouldn't be shy about asking your friends for that.
This is what friends are for.
And the whole exchange of clothes among mom friends is just like such a beautiful thing.
Okay, and my final mantra when it comes to clothes: Buy big, buy big, buy big, buy big,
buy big.
I can't say it enough.
I really try to get at least two years out of a shirt for the boys.
Jeans can be hard when they're really sprouting up, but I still think you can try to get more
than one season by buying big and long and rolling up, especially if your kids are thin
and you buy like a slim fit.
But even if they're not, there are ways to extend jeans.
I've talked about this before.
You can actually add jean on the bottom of it, and it's a good way to patch too, so you
get more out of them.
And for the girls, I love long-type, casual dresses that can be worn then for a second
season with leggings as more of a jumper kind of thing, and I think that's a great way to
get more life out of your clothes.
So anyway, what do you guys do?
It's a big organizational thing for moms.
We're so lucky to have this issue, to be talking about how we organize our clothes.
To be able to buy these beautiful clothes.
But obviously, it does cause stress because you only wanna get what you need.
You don't wanna spend too much money.
And then for me, and I think a lot of moms, space is a real issue.
So anyway, thank you so much for watching my video.
Please share your tips when it comes to children's clothing on my site, on CloudMom.com, and
I will see you guys next time.