Who else feels overwhelmed by socks and shoes? They’re like guerrilla invaders – all over my house and yet I’m constantly hunting for them. I’m the first to blame socks and shoes anytime I’m late for something. I put socks and shoes on Toddler, put Baby in the car, turn around, and Toddler is barefoot again. Meanwhile Five-year-old is screaming he can’t find one of his shoes, and when I finally pack everyone in the car and get to where I’m going, Seven-year-old announces he forgot to wear shoes. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve put shoeless children in shopping carts…don’t judge me.
Long story short-ish, I got tired of constantly running up and down stairs for socks in dresser drawers and searching for matching shoes who-knows-where. And don’t even get me started on all the shoes kids had grown out of in bins in the attic. I knew there had to be a better way. Multiple trial and errors later, I came up with solutions that work for me. I hope these simple organization tips that have made my life much easier can do the same for you.
Socks
I now keep all my kids socks in a sock bin by the garage. Presto! No more running upstairs when kids need socks. Instead, the socks are right next to their shoes and the car. If you don’t want to mix up your kids’ socks, give each child their own small bin, or designate a girl bin and a boy bin. Easy peasy.
Tip: Buy different style socks for different sizes. This makes it easy for my boys to know which socks are theirs.
Shoes
We don’t wear shoes in our house, so all shoes are now kept in the garage. The key to keeping shoes organized? Shoe racks. Just buy them. It’s worth it.
I really like this one:
If you already have shoe racks and have the problem of actually keeping the shoes on the said shoe rack, then assign the “shoe rack” as a chore. Twice a week one of my kids’ chores is to put all the shoes back on the shoe rack.
For shoes my kids have outgrown, I keep bins in the garage. I have found that feet do not grow at the same speed as bodies. So keeping shoes with certain sizes of clothes was frustrating because when I sifted through bins of old clothes, I’d often forget shoes even existed and end up wasting money buying more shoes.
To solve that problem, I labeled bins in my garage and stuck all the shoes that no ones fits into those. Then when one of my kids’ shoes are getting too small, I just switch them out of the bins. I also have a bin specifically for cleats and keep snow boots on the bottom shelves.
You don’t have to organize socks and shoes like I do. My methods might not work for your family. However, if socks and shoes are driving you as crazy as they drove me, don’t give up. Figure out how to solve the problem and make your life a little easier. You and your sanity are worth it.
