Clothing Organization for Kids' Drawers

Have you ever been in a time crunch and are running around trying to get kids dressed, only to hit a road block when your toddler refuses to wear anything you've picked out? We've all been there (or at least know someone who has).

Toddlers like to be able to assert their independence and who can blame them? They are realizing they are their own person and want some say in the things that happen to them, yet we as their mommies get to make most of the decisions for them.

I ran into this a lot when my oldest was about 3. She insisted on picking out her clothes (which usually consisted of the same shirt over and over), and I insisted on her matching and looking presentable if we were going to be out in public. BTW, if you are reading this and have no problem with your kids picking out their clothes all the time, just disregard this whole post! :)

However, if you're a control freak like me, then perhaps you'd like to keep reading to see how I stopped the daily battles about clothing at my house.

First, I took all the bottoms and tops Ainsley had and put them into outfits. Most people have more shirts than pants, so I found more than one possible shirt and put them both with a pair of pants or shorts. Then, I placed each outfit into a gallon sized storage bag and placed them neatly back into the drawers.

This resulted in Ainsley being able to pick out an outfit which made her happy and feel like she had a say in the matter. I was happy too, because I knew she looked presentable!

I have since done the same for second and third children's clothes but have taken it a few steps further. Since my second child, Aftyn, has so many clothes because she never outgrew last year's batch but has a whole new set from Ainsley for this year, I have organized her clothes by capri outfits (one drawer) and shorts outfits (another drawer). That way when the weather is a little cooler I can easliy find what I'm looking for.

Now when the time comes every morning to get everyone dressed, there are happy faces and no one ends up crying, even me. :)