Kids clothes when 50/50

[DadJokeExpert]

Has anybody got any suggestions about managing kids (DS13/ DS12) clothes when split 50/50 across two houses, as we're still new to this. Me - Dad - and their mum co-parent well and are both able to wash/dry/iron clothes but we don't really want to buy lots of stuff for each house as the children just out grow them. To make it more complicated the kids come and go freely and leave things behind, like changing into PJs at one house but sleeping in the other house with their day clothes left behind or changing tops as they are unable to eat normally and spill stuff everywhere 😂

We tend to end up with clothes acclimating in the wrong house and outfits getting mixed up. I'd like to know if anyone has come up with any ideas to keep tabs on what goes where to make it easier to keep on top of things. I thought about marking the labels on clothes to know whats mine/ mums so we can sort easily once a week, but feel that might be a bit much!

I appreciate it's not the biggest problem in the world, but we can't be the only ones with this frustration! We loosely follow a 2-2-3 pattern, adapted for clubs/ weekends activities etc if that helps.

I think you just have to accept it will be more costly and you will need more stuff over 2 houses.
Get them to choose their own bits on vinted so they can have brands etc but it's cheaper if they are still growing.

Once they get to teenagers it is inevitable really, and is only a problem if one parent consistently refuses to buy what is needed and expects them to wear old, ill fitting clothes so the other parent ends up funding it all.

Could your DC be given a clothing budget which is covered equally by both of you, with the clothes being split evenly between houses? The DC are then responsible for making sure that a particular item is where they need it to be, otherwise they just wear what is available where they are.

Uniform - you need extra sets at each house.

Club kits etc - kids need to become more responsible for looking ahead and knowing what they need and transferring kit bags with them.

Ordinary clothes - PJs, general stuff - don’t sweat it. Let the kids take stuff between houses, buy enough that it doesn’t matter - 2x sets of PJs, 2x sets of everything so that if 1 set goes walkabout there’s always a spare. Don’t worry about outfits/sets, everyone can mix and match. Make them responsible for making sure they remember their coat, shoes etc.

@Daisy12Maisie Vinted is a good idea, thanks. In the past we’ve passed clothes on to the wider family but if we sell them on then that would help cover the costs of additional stuff.

@snakewillow yeah, we have a shared budget for clothes and all the other things that come up. I did think we could have x sets of clothes at each house and then just swap over when we see we have too much or ask back but I was slightly concerned that it may make their wardrobes look quite empty only having 3 t-shirts each for example!

@NoSquirrels we’re trying to get them to take a bit more ownership but also don’t want to push too much of our divorce changes on them as they adjust to things but they are probably at an age where its a good idea to build more responsibility up. During school term, i’ve been doing a morning/ evening drop off of kits etc, which isn’t too bad generally to do.