Sunday, November 1, 2009

Home Management: where to put the clean clothes and shoes?

Each child has a dresser, but no child has a closet. This is part of living in an old house. Closets were counted as extra rooms that you could pay higher taxes for 100 years ago...or so they say.


We have decided not to let that bother us. The girls have hooks behind their bedroom door to hang robes and dresses on, everything else can fit into their dressers. And that means mom needs to keep the articles of clothing at a managable number. Five pairs of jeans cannot fit into a drawer designed for two. Some things must go...

So each change of the season requires mom switching all the clothes around. It gives me a chance to rid our household of those things that don't fit or are all worn out as well. I have found for those that are not so great about putting away their clothes I work with them. After some time, they are capable of finding the drawers where things belong. And to help them along their way I put photos or drawings on the front of each drawer stating what belongs inside.

The same has been the case for shoes. In finding that our shoes are usually removed upon entering this house, we keep all shoes by the back door. No one really needs more than three pairs of shoes! So if we have shelving for 3 shoes times five people...that should be enough room for 30 shoes. Check. If your shoes or boots are not clean, they stay outside or go into the laundry room for clean up.