If there’s one skill I can proudly share my abilities for, it’s process development. In my former professional experience, I loved nothing more than figuring out how to make something more efficient. I love to consider all the options, and come up with a streamlined process that makes things easier for myself and all involved.
Now as a stay-at-home mom with twins, my “job” is caring for them around the clock, and there’s definitely room for process development and improvements! As I go along this journey, I’d like to share my “twin tips” that seem to make things work a little more smoothly for me. For twin moms – try them out for yourself. For moms of singletons – many will work for you as well. For those of you who aren’t moms, these little ideas might answer the question “how on earth do you do it?” that I get asked ever so frequently.
First up, the Baby Clothes Inventory Sheet.
Long ago in a time that now seems very far away, I was a planner. My friends picked on me relentlessly about how I had “control issues” and tried to plan life to the most minuscule detail. The birth of my twins has broken the planner in me mercilessly. I finally gave up after creating a google spreadsheet (linked to a form document, accessible from my Droid) that tracked my ounces pumped, times and amounts consumed, and “outputs” of my twins. One document I created during my time as a planner – and now being resurrected for use during my consignment shopping – was my Baby Clothes Inventory.
It’s amazing the sheer amount of STUFF that twins need. One unique challenge for mothers of multiples (boy/girl especially) is that it all becomes a blur when considering the amounts you have in what size, for what gender. For example, it seemed like I had a TON of fuzzy sleepers. And I did – but they were all in size newborn for Julie (hand me downs from a friend) and in size 0-3 months for Brayden (which we’d purchased because he was expected to be a big baby). Had I not had my handy Baby Clothes Inventory spreadsheet, I would have been out of luck and left struggling when Julie quickly outgrew her clothes.
Now, I am using my inventory to assist with consignment shopping, in order to help plan for the future while snagging great deals. Download my Baby Clothes Inventory template HERE.
A few notes of use about this document:
- You can’t edit it in Google Documents. To download a usable copy, go to “File” (under the title) and then “Download” which will start the download of the Microsoft Excel file.
- The spreadsheet is designed for Boy/Girl twins with a column for N (Neutral) especially helpful for things like yellow newborn clothes and the sort.
- Each item tallies at each size level. This total is the total number of Boy+Girl+Neutral. This will prove that yes, indeed, you have a TON of fuzzy sleepers.
Organization is the only way you’ll stay sane with twins. Everyone laughs at me because of my organization; but once they spend a few hours with me and the boys, they completely understand it. Fortunately, my memory works well in the clothes department for the boys, but that’s the only time my memory works at its full capacity. Probably because I’m always looking for clothes on sale:)
from one super-planner to another, your spreadsheet rocks mama. Love your blog. Visiting from M & M linky