Getting the Kids Dressed

If you have children,  you know that getting the family ready in the morning is an Olympic event. Many days it seems like a miracle that they all have on socks and shoes....much less that they match.

Create more peace in your morning routine by getting the kids' clothes ready in advance.

Choose a day of the week like a Saturday or Sunday. If your children are old enough, have them lay out an outfit for each day of the week. In order to do this, you will need your calendar to see what events are coming up so they may dress appropriately or add the appropriate attire for after-school activities.

Once they have chosen the outfit for each day (including socks, underwear, and other accessories), dedicate a space for them to put those clothes.

For smaller children you can hang a shoe organizer from the closet bar. Roll up each day's outfit and place it in a cubby. You can label them with the appropriate day using labels or tape, or you can simply write on the fabric with a permanent marker. Wooden clothespins can also be used to "label" each cubby if you don't want anything too permanent.

For older children you can hang each outfit on a hanger. Socks and accessories can be clipped on with clothespins, or you can drape the handle of a small bag or grocery bag around the top of the hanger to hold the smaller items.

You could designate one side of the closet to hang those outfits on and clip clothespins on them that are labeled with the days of the week.
Or you could install hooks in the closet or in their room to hang the hangers on.

I really like Wonder Hangers for this use. There are two rings that go over your closet bar, and a horizontal piece that stretches between them with nooks for each hanger. Place up to 6 hangers in each little nook, and then you drop one side of it down so the clothes hang vertically instead of horizontally. They are GREAT space savers! I use these for formal or seasonal clothes that I use less frequently than everyday clothes.

Make it work for you or you won't follow through with it. If you can't fit the accessories and socks on the hangers, then either put the clothes in a specific drawer just for the week's clothes, or designate a small box or bag for the socks and underclothes. This way you KNOW that you have enough clean laundry to get you through the week. If there aren't enough pairs of underwear for the week, it's better to know now than the night they run out.

This teaches your children to plan ahead. You are teaching them responsibility. When your toddler tells you in the morning, "But I want to pick out my own clothes!" you can gently remind her that she DID pick them out herself. You won't walk in your teenage daughter's room to find her standing in a mountain of clothes crying, "I don't have anything to wear!" You won't burn yourself as you frantically iron because you will have already seen which clothes needed to be ironed earlier that week.

 Most of all, you will be blessing your children (and yourself) with peace in the morning.

Try it. It doesn't take long. Set a timer and see for yourself. You'll spend at the most 15 minutes laying the clothes out, but you will save yourself hours of agony over the course of the week.