Yesterday, I tackled our shoe situation.
You can well imagine that with 7 children, it takes major effort to keep track of shoes. They keep growing, for one thing. A pair of shoes that worked a few months ago may well not work now. Secondly, it is hard to convince ALL the children, ALL the time, that shoes need to be returned to the shoe bin. Lastly, our 1 year old daughter is a shoe enthusiast. She loves to pick them up and carry them off, so I keep finding a stray shoe or 2 in odd corners.
Lydia has been reminding me that she needs some sandals, and indeed she does. But I didn't want to run off to the store without a better feel for our shoe needs.
So I made a chart. I was SO organized! Kids' names on the top, 5 catagories going down: atheletic shoes, sandals, nice shoes, chicken shoes (for when the kids go out into the chicken coop...very messy!), and casual shoes.
So yesterday, I spent a surprising amount of time going through our shoe tub, removing outgrown shoes, and looking for shoes that fit in the basement storage room.
We keep our extra clothes and shoes there and we have a LOT of extras. We have more storage space than most people have, and I dislike shopping, and I'm cheap, so I tend to hold onto shoes and clothes. I really should get rid of more things but it takes time to make those decisions. (I DO donate many things to Goodwill, but probably could safely get rid of a couple of hundred garments but don't have the energy.)
You would think that with 2 older girls, our younger girls would be set for shoes but it only sort of worked out that way. Miriam and Angela do have sandals, nice shoes, and casual shoes from their older sisters. They don't have athletic shoes but probably don't need them.
The big girls and Joseph do need sandals.
And almost everyone needs chicken shoes, as they deteriorate.
Yes, a trip to Target or K-mart is in our future. Trouble is, I am really not feeling too perky. When will I have the time and energy? Well, I'll make it happen.
2 comments:
The shoe depot had shoes cheaper than when we looked at Walmart or Target. Also when it comes to shoes I try to buy things that will do double duty - like for Christian we bought him new tennis shoes yesterday, they are black and will do well for both dress and play. Sandals I try to make sure they are casual enough but also okay for church. Takes care of multiple shoes for lots of people. Also I try to make sure not to buy 'fake' shoes which with some man made materials and cheapy ones can cause foot issues.
I feel your pain. I have five kids and the clothing and shoe thing makes me crazy. Of course, I try to keep the hand-me-down items to be a good steward of what we have. Recently, I took out all the shoes in storage to see what could be used and I was apalled at how much we had. The problem is that most of it does not get used due to seasons, etc. Ugh... anyway it is always a lot to go through and it is CONTINUOUS. It is as if it never gets finished ever. Kids are constantly growing and I am constantly trying to stay a step ahead of it all. In fact, for Easter my older two girls needed shoes that were church worthy but could be worn with regular clothes, also. We shopped for them at 8:PM the night before Easter. BUT we got it done!
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