Welcome to the second post of Tips for the Tired #Family. I appreciate your joining me here to consider ways to bring the stress levels down in our busy family lives. Today’s topic is the dreaded Laundry!
I must admit right from the start that I actually like doing laundry. It’s a job that’s like mowing the grass, you immediately see the improvement. However, I recently folded a giant pile of clothes for a young family and I have to tell you, the magnitude of ongoing laundry for this family of four must keep them busy all the time. This family always looks good, but it comes at a cost of time, money, and chaos that might not be worth the effort.
As an alternative, I would suggest the creation of a capsule wardrobe for each member of the family. If this is a new concept to you, I’ll simply say it’s a way to limit the number of clothing pieces each family member has and still allow them enough variety to dress for whatever their needs are. I’ve read several articles of people using capsule wardrobes and I would suggest that if you explore this option as a time and cost saver, you will want to customize it to your comfort level. At the end of this post, I’ve given you a link to a YouTube video by a woman who does an excellent job describing how she manages her child’s capsule wardrobe. It takes about 22 minutes to watch, but it is a great example of how to begin creating this for your family.
Let’s list the benefits of a capsule wardrobe:
- The child’s closet has fewer items in it, each of which “go” together, and they can dress themselves more independently
- There is no running around looking for things that match in the morning or on your way out the door to a sport practice for example
- Since you are handling fewer clothes, you can limit your laundry time. You may build wardrobes that accommodate 7 days. That way, you only must do laundry once weekly. Set aside laundry time to a day when you can get the job fully done and clothes back in the closets. If you only get them washed and dried, but not put away, you’re asking for things to get out of hand quickly.
- All of us have gotten to the end of the season and found clothes we purchased and the child either outgrew it, or they never got around to wearing them. It’s doubtful they will be the same size next season. Managing fewer clothes will help prevent this from happening.
- Children can have a laundry basket in their own room. Even a three-year-old can be given the responsibility of “tossing” their clothes into a basket at the end of the day. That way, whoever is responsible for the laundry just goes and picks up the baskets from each room once weekly. This can be a good way of establishing responsibility in our children and it will keep clothes from ending up all over the house.
- Cost may not be a concern for some of our readers, but I love the way the women in the attached youtube link really uses her knowledge of what stores carry to keep the cost of clothes to a minimum while still allowing enjoyment and fun in the items selected. Great example of a mom doing purposeful shopping, and who doesn’t like a deal?
- For those of you with older children, I think they would benefit from active involvement in the development of their wardrobe. Sit down with them and explain the concept, the benefit of knowing what’s available when they roll out of bed in the morning and help lay a foundation for how to manage clothing costs.
I have done a partial capsule wardrobe for myself for a couple of years and love it. I didn’t know about this concept when I was raising my family, but I think it’s worth considering. I’d love comments from people who have tried this in terms of what worked and what didn’t. Check out the attached video to learn more about the way you create a capsule. It’s summer now, but learning now may help you be ready to create the family’s winter capsules!
Let’s see what happens and be blessed.