Shuffling Wardrobes

Every spring and fall we engage in the great wardrobe migration.  Oliver's clothes go to Soren, Soren's clothes go to Matteo and Matteo's clothes, well, they often go straight into the trash.  The poor guy came to me one morning clutching his clothes and wanting help getting dressed.  He pulled on his pants and I saw three huge holes in one knee and told him he needed to find a pair of pants without holes. He came back with another pair of pants with no holes, but when he tried to put on his socks, he pushed the first foot through and three of his five toes poked out the other end! Since we're coming to the end of the winter, I'm determined to finish out the season with the remaining clothes without rips, holes or stains, but I did spring for new underwear for Matteo. For a kid who rarely gets any new clothing, it was the least I could do. 

The wardrobe migration is particularly hard on Soren.  One day he was wearing his favorite Wild jersey and then next day it was in Matteo's drawer with an "M" etched in the collar with a Sharpie. There are certain times of year when Soren and Matteo wear the same size clothing and while it would be easier if we simply divided the clothes and put half in Soren's drawer and half in Matteo's, we discovered that we eliminate Soren's meltdowns over thinking Matteo is wearing his clothes if we write an "M" on the all the clothes designated for Matteo. Even if Matteo is third in line for the clothes, he can at least make it clear that they belong to him.