Month: September 2015

The hunt for clothes hangers for “bigger” kids

My older twins recently turned 7 and their clothes have surpassed the “kids” hangers I usually get at Target, Walmart, etc.

I am on the hunt for clothes hangers that are bigger for the older kids’ clothes so they don’t fall off but smaller than adult size hangers that overstretch them.

I dutifully turned to Amazon, thinking if I order now I can get it in 2 days or less. No such luck. This is turning out to be harder than I thought.

After some initial research, I decided to just measure the hangers we already have. Here’s what I know:
The baby hangers are about 10″ wide/long. These work for clothes up to 18 months if they’re small.
The toddler hangers are about 11″ wide/long . These work for clothes 24 months to sometimes size 4T. This is what we use for the 2 year old twins’ clothes.
The kids hangers you can usually buy from Target are 12″ long. These are fine for my 5 year old’s clothes who is a 5T and they worked for some of my older twins’ clothes up to size 6.
The hangers that come with the older twins’ clothes from the store are sized 7/8 or M. These are about 14″ wide/long. I’m learning how difficult it is to find these so be sure to say yes when the store asks you if you want to keep them!
Adult hangers are 16″ wide/long or longer.

I have so far learned that “junior” clothes hangers sized 14″ wide/long – can be bought in bulk, but unfortunately they are usually only for tops/dresses, and don’t have the bottom “bar” you can fold pants over. There are separate 14″ clothes hangers for bottoms like skirts, shorts and pants that come with clips.

What I want are 14″ junior clothes hangers that come in a “combo” style – meaning I can use them for tops/dresses and have clips for pants/skirts.

Who knew these would be so hard to find? I would just use adult size hangers but they stretch out the arm holes. Also – with 3 more kids after these twins’ I know I’ll get my money’s worth out of them. Sigh.

If I find them – I’ll be sure to post pics and links. If you know where I can get them – please comment and let me know!

About Us

We have five children including 2 sets of twins. Currently ages 7,7,5,2,2. That’s 2 fraternal twin girls, a single boy, followed by 2 identical twin girls. Life After 5 – kids that is, has definitely changed.

School papers everywhere!

3 of the five are now in public school. The older twins are in first grade and the boy is in kindergarten. I used to take pride in how organized I was but I must admit school papers is proving to be a challenge.

How do you manage all the papers that come home from school?

Here’s what comes home to us:

  • Homework for the week
  • Worksheets they completed at school
  • Extra credit work
  • Flyers about school programs
  • Forms to sign
  • Art projects
  • School Newsletters
  • Classroom newsletters
  • Sign up sheets for volunteering, supplies
  • Special project instructions
  • Award tickets
  • School calendars
  • Meal calendars
  • Invitations

On top of this we get emails from the school, calls from the school and emails from the teachers.

I should mention I work full time so I only have the evenings and weekends to manage this. At the moment we are using gmail, google calendars and of course an incoming basket to manage the piles of paper to be sorted through for what we should keep or toss.

I would love to hear your ideas on how to improve our school paper organization. I am hoping to have a system down before the two little ones start school in a couple of years!

About Us

We have five children  including 2 sets of twins.. Currently ages 7,7,5,2,2. That’s 2 fraternal twin girls, a single boy, followed by 2 identical twin girls. Life After 5 – kids that is, has definitely changed.

My Review of Amazon’s 2 hour shipping with Prime Now

It’s a Saturday afternoon and I’m wanting a sports watch with a timer asap. I pick up my phone to place an order with Amazon and noticed there’s not only same day shipping but 2 hour delivery. I quickly checked if they delivered in my area and almost danced for joy when it said yes. I downloaded the Amazon Prime Now app and start browsing.

I found the watch I wanted but the price was less than needed to get 2 hour shipping. Just then I remembered my laundry. I went to the laundry room to move the clothes to the dryer and saw we were almost out of detergent – on laundry weekend! I returned to my phone and checked to see if Amazon Prime Now could deliver detergent in the two hour window. Of course they could!

I then turned to my husband and asked what else he may need before we could get to the store? Hairspray – check. Shampoo – check!

I really wanted that watch and detergent so I checked out. I did notice there was a driver tip but decided to go ahead anyway. At check out it said delivery within one hour was not available so I confirmed I wanted the 6 to 8 pm delivery time. I also said it was ok to leave the delivery unattended at the door.

I forgot about it when the kids started to ask for dinner. Hubby wanted to go out so we left. On the way home, I remembered I placed the order. When we pulled into the driveway I saw the package by the front door. It was delivered by 8 pm.

I opened my treasures, put on my new watch, started the laundry, and handed my husband his shampoo and hairspray. That was way faster than me remembering to pick up supplies which would likely take another 2 days.

Amazon Prime Now with 2 Hour delivery saved the day!

Pros:

  • 2 hour delivery
  • Delivery in my area

Cons:

  • Delivery Fee
  • Limited selection for now
  • Requires separate app

About Us

We have five children  including 2 sets of twins. Currently ages 7,7,5,2,2. That’s 2 fraternal twin girls, a single boy, followed by 2 identical twin girls. Life After 5 – kids that is, has definitely changed.