decluttering

We're trying to teach our kids that if you don't have room for it, you don't need it. Your space will be easier to keep clean and neat without it and you'll be happier. And in the case of laundry, you'll have even less of it to do.

So we are going through and limiting each kid to 14 shirts, 7 shorts, 5 pants, 2 church pants and church shirts/6 skirts and dresses. It's been hard. There have been some teary eyes at having to give up cherished clothes. But here's what I found out.

1. Despite the fact that X had about 20 pairs of pants in his closet, only 2 jeans fit him.
2. When the big boys had a hard time giving up their clothes, it was easier to put them in a pile for the little boys than to put them in to the pile of stuff to get rid of.
3. I counted the big boys' bag o' clothes for giving away and there is 111 items!! The pile of stuff to keep for the little boys is probably around 70-80.
4. Baboo does not want to pare down her 90 shirt collection to 14.
5. No wonder my kids can't keep up on laundry! I love getting hand me downs, but apparently even with 8 kids, I need to be more selective.
6. The little boys had an easier time parting with clothes than the big boys.
7. ALL the boys were very happy when it was all over and they had something controllable to deal with in their closets and drawers that shut.
8. We'll see how the girls feel when they are done...
9. Everybody was much more cheerful about it when I told them I'd try to sell a huge lot of their clothes on Craigslist and give them the proceeds.