Half the time, clean-up in their rooms isn't supervised (if it happens at all). The next week I would be helping a child get dressed and someone put peed-in underwear in the drawer! OH, the disgusting, rank, I can't breathe ammonia smell!!! Now I have to wash everything in that drawer, including the stuffed animals that were shoved in there too. The puzzle pieces and a book got chucked!
And then there is the pile of clean laundry on my bed that I don't have time to fold, or the day passes too quickly so clothes move from the bed to the floor and then back to the bed etc. Kids can't find something to wear so dig they through the clean clothes pile. A day or 4 later, are these clothes clean or dirty? They are starting to get mixed up! AHHHH!!!
Ok there HAS to be a solution!
I was watching a youtube video about the Duggar family and caught a glimpse of their laundry room and closet area. The ideas just started to flow. I took what I had and worked with it to morph my ideas, supplies, and space and came up with the following:
Keep clothing as much in one place as possible. No more dressers and clothing shoved in the closet. Our laundry room is large and there was space enough to have clean clothing organized in the laundry area. My husband and I still keep our clothing in our closet. The kids have one organized area for clean clothing and the laundry is close by for the dirty clothes.
This is a preschool organizer cubby thing. I got it from a day-care center that was selling it. Works great!
There aren't too many items of clothing in a section (the sections are small) so the kids can easily find what they want.
Shoes, socks, underwear, diapers, wipes and other misc. items are in a drawer under the changing table.
Each child gets one drawer (until [if] any other kids come along).
The kids can close the door and get dressed in there too.
The laundry is close so when the kids are changing clothes they can put dirty clothes right in the laundry bins (at least this is the hope).
We have also saved so much space and clothing messes in the kids' rooms. The dressers have been moved out. I now use one of the dressers for fabric in my sewing corner. The kids love the extra room to play.
No, this does not solve the problem of the scattered everything else in their rooms. Plus, the "getting the kids to clean their rooms" dilemma. I am not ready to worry about that one.
The kids love the idea too. They have been doing great at keeping their things neat. I am in there often enough changing diapers or doing laundry that if clothes are left on the floor I can remind that child to put them away. With this clothing system organized and put into action I feel like I can take a deep breath (and it won't have the ammonia aroma)!
