Growth as Measured in Fractions

Before the girls were born, I remember washing all their teeny-tiny clothes.  I had so many items, but they made for such a small load in the washing machine.

It was a fun exercise to work through how I wanted to organize everything.  I enjoyed setting up their closet and deciding how I wanted to fold their onesies and pants, their burp cloths and blankets.

(You may know I’m a bit of a control freak when it comes to folding laundry.  If I’m going to wash and fold, then it must look pretty when I put it away.  I want to be able to appreciate my work!)

The girls had a dresser in their room, but they had so many wonderful shelves in their closet.  I decided to buy plastic bins to use as “drawers” on their shelves.  This system has worked incredibly well.  It allows easy access to everything, and when I need to switch out their clothes for the season, I simply put the bin of long-sleeve pajamas on a higher shelf and bring down the bin of short-sleeve ones.

I know this system won’t last me forever, though…at least not with smaller size bins that I have.

When the girls were infants, I folded their knit pants in half side-to-side, and then in half again, top-to-bottom.  I’m not absolutely certain, but I believe I got three stacks of pants in one bin.

It wasn’t too long before the size of their pants increased, and I went down to two stacks per bin, still folded in half.

A couple of years ago, I had to start folding their pants into thirds in order for them to fit in the bins.

And this year?  My B is still wearing mostly size 4 pants, so I haven’t had to make any adjustments.  My A, though, is wearing size 5…and some of those will flash an occasional ankle.  The last pants I bought for her were actually size 5/6.  ACK!

And yes, those LONG britches are too long for thirds.  I’m now folding some of A’s pants into fourths.

As if it weren’t enough for me to see their growing shoe sizes…their increasing height, coming close to my chest…their blossoming vocabulary and number prowess…The Universe just won’t let me forget that my BABIES are growing up, as further evidenced by my laundry piles.

The next thing I know, I'll be asking my girls to reach something for Mommy on a higher shelf...at least I think they'll surpass me in height, which will have its advantages!