Laundry and Clothes

From the time we had more than 4 kids, we always had a laundry room/space/whole-in-the-wall right off or near the kitchen.  It was not difficult to start a load of laundry and tend to those loads while making breakfast or snack, or lunch, or another snack, or dinner.  1-2 loads of laundry a day did not seem too bad to me.

A few years ago (when I only had 5 kids to wash clothes for), a friend told me about her plans to decrease her laundry loads.  So, despite my light loads (pun intended), I was totally interested.  At heart I'm a minimalist.  And less laundry means less stuff to make laundry.

Her plan was simple - each child gets xxx clothes and that was it.  No more trips to Target that involved buying 2 t-shirts because they were cute.  In our house, that meant the kids all had 7 pairs of shorts and 6 shirts and a nice church shirt, and the girls had a nice church dress.  Socks, and underwear, of course.  No full-to-the-brim drawers. Less laundry!

But fall came and I bought clearance stuff for the next summer.  And winter came and I bought layers that were never worn ("I'm not cold, Mama").  Hand-me-downs that I had planned on using didn't fit.  Time went by and we were back up in clothing volume.  I had not followed through with my less-clothing-for-less-laundry plan.  And now, with my business closed due to our move and a fabric buying habit that has forgotten I only have my kids to sew for,  the lack of age appropriate clothing in our US store, and the ignorance as to wear to buy locally sold clothes, I am reinstating the clothing ban.

For now, I know the big girls have some things from last summer, but most of it was tight or short or stained, so anything I find that still fits is a bonus.  I found that the girls wear either jammies or dresses 90% of the time (oh the conveniences of being homeschooled). So this year, I am making them 6 dresses each, one of which will be nicer.  Two sets of jammies, and a new swim suit. The baby gets 7 outfits, and 3 sets of jammies, her swimsuit from last year still fits I believe.

I really think we have enough for the boys to each have 6 pairs of shorts, 6 shirts and 2 nice shirts and a nice pair of shorts or slacks, a pair of swim trunks and rash guard.

As for shoes.  Everyone has a pair of tennis shoes.  The girls get a pair of sandals for the summer.  Some kids have flip flops and I think those that don't, will get a pair for pool trips.  And, that's about it.

That's the plan anyway. I'll let you know if my summer dreams actually take affect.