Here was her estimation:
-10 everyday outfits - includes shirts and pants/capris/skirts
-4 dressy outfits - one for each Sunday in the month
-4-5 pairs of PJs (our kids are required to wear pajamas two nights in a row, because they take baths before bed, and are therefore clean when they put them on. This helps reduce laundry).
I can see some wisdom in those numbers. I mean, an outfit a day covering a little over a week, one for each Sunday or outing, and plenty of PJ's isn't so bad really. I don't necessarily see needing a different nightgown/PJ for each night, but that's a personal thing. As long as you're clean going to bed, why a new one the next night? I also have 8 children to clothe...I've got enough sewing on my hands without needing to whip together some 45 sets of night clothes here, trust me. And I'm not sure I need 14 outfits per child daily and outing wear...that's another 112 outfits to sew.
Sure, not everyone sews their clothing needs, but still...you wanna go buy and pay for some 157 outfits between 8 children? I don't. I have ample material and just enough 'skill' to keep us covered. And they simply don't make clothing to actually last anymore. And being a more Plain family anyway, our clothing list isn't typical in the least. We have too many clothes already, but here's our breakdown...
the girls have 4 dresses and 6 aprons/pinafores daily, (and 2 for town or church). The pinafore gets the bulk of the dirt, and unless it's been a hot and sweaty day, the dress can take a second wear. the pinafores usually do not....
underclothes are daily counts
I think they each have 3 nightgowns
The boys are about the same...they have 4 pairs of pants (plus a good pair for town or church)
daily underclothes
2 sets pj's
What do you think...how many clothes are needed for children?
I also read more on lasagna gardening, square foot gardening, composting and I am motivated...yet again...to get moving harder on this useless soil here.
Simple, Green, Frugal Co-Op has so many great sharings on composting and gardening. I need to keep filling beds with clippings, kitchen scraps, newspapers, wood ashes, barn gleanings, etc. and plan to plant those next year. This year I have a few beds going...not much, but still...the grapes are starting out good, there are a few tomatoes and peppers, some garlic, lemon balm and some lavender and an over-full bed of beans. The other areas will be layered all season and maybe we can plant a few things next year again. Honestly, one day we'll just wake up and find some decent soil out here. We've been adding everything not nailed down to the garden areas here for 5 years. It's got to produce some decent, usable soil eventually.....right?
I also found this neat sippy cup idea at Simple, Green, Frugal Co-Op...
Looks like the sun might make it out today. Would be nice, but I'll take cloud cover any day down here.
Laundry is out and Beth...the Prepare and Pray Unit arrived this morning in the mail. I'll be busy digging into that today as well! Thank you so much for sharing -- we have Swiss Family Robinson downloading from BooksShouldBeFree.com right now!
4 comments:
We have more shirts than pants/short/ etc. That way if you get too sweaty, then changing a shirt and refreshing deodorant helps. Mine wear the pants, or shorts etc. 2 days in a row unless dirt is visible. We wear pjs 2 nights in a row also. Towels are hung up after every bath and washed weakly...more if needed. Hope this helps.
Haven't commented in a long time! :) I have been going through all our clothes trying to whittle it down to managable levels. I haven't done that in a LONG time and my tiny closets are bursting at the seams. My son has a ton right now since his older cousin has passed on the things he's out grown. I'm looking forward to passing most of it on this weekend at our yard sale.
Take care...Ann'Re
I personally own 3 pairs of pants and 3 skirts, and about 15 tops...I stain my tops horribly all the time, so I have to make myself an apron here asap. I keep a few tops for when I have an appointment, and the rest are for around the house.
My daughter is the clothes hound because so much gets given to her. I have made her get rid of a LOT of clothes though, since she actually only wears about 7 outfits constantly.
The boys each have about 7 pairs of pants, and maybe 10 shirts each. But again, all were given to me.
When I am done with the clothing, if it is in good shape I pass it on. If it isn't, I use it for things around the house, like rags etc.
This list is highly individual. Here in our corner of Australia it is warm to hot most of the year. So we tend to have more tops and light clothing that needs washing after most wearings. My good linen clothing is a wrinkled mess after one wear. The sun is pretty reliable so we can get by with less as washing can be done and line dried most days if needed.
Personally I am not comfortable having a lot of clothing for me. I will confess that when the children were little I did buy and plan ahead or there would have been some embarrassing times. My girls are teens now. They tend to want far more than I can deal with. They also wear a uniform to school. Each girl has 3 school blouses, a sports uniform, a pullover and two skirts. We have a amassed a huge number of white and teal school socks too. Most weeks we wash the school clothing on Saturday. It is rare to have to wash these midweek. Other than that they have winter and summer pyjamas while I wear the same ones year round. My older girl buys her own clothing and it is quite a collection now.
Personally I would love to say I have three skirts and six tops and two good outfits. In reality there is a little more than that. I am thankful for aprons as I wear one pretty constantly at home. My father cannot believe that I use one handbag most of the time and am happy to do so.
Thank you for making me think. It is time I had the clothing pile under control. I admire you for being so frank and truthfully I had not thought much about how much washing a larger family generates. Our multigenerational family generates enough and there are only five in total.
Post a Comment