Change of Seasons, Change of Wardrobe

Every six months or so I sit down and try to wrassle Monkey Boy into various articles of clothing from his closet in order to see what fits and what is lacking. Then the wrassling progresses into full-strength restraint holds in order to try on the next season's clothing in the next size (most of it will fit, but why waste closet space with things he'll never wear?). Every six months my sweet Monkey becomes a crazy little banshee while participating (against his will) in this project, interspersed with moments of silliness, destructiveness, and just plain belligerence. Every six month, my dear, sweet husband comes home halfway through this task and within 10 minutes is cracking up at the sight of me tackling our child with a sweater and Monkey's silly walks. After the boys' part is complete, I go through the pile of old clothes, separating out the ones nice enough that the resale shop will take them and putting the rest aside for donations. Then I sort the pile of new (or new-to-Monkey) clothes, removing tags, checking for holes, etc. One massive load of laundry later, everything is clean, dry, folded and put away.

So, this afternoon it took four hours, but I can officially say Monkey will be warm, dry, and wearing clothes that fit for roughly the next six months. Still, there has got to be an easier way to do this. How do you deal with the seasonal/sizing changes for your children? Any advice to make this whole process easier?

Monkey running in the sprinklers outside our apartment this afternoon. Quickly followed by the protests, "Mommy, it is hot outside and I have sprinklers to play in! Why do I have to put on sweaters?" Good point, child :-)