Finding Peace in Folding Pajamas

One way that you can help to create peace in the home is to focus on eliminating clutter and creating order. It can cut down on conflicts, frustration, and over-stimulation. In Novemeber, I discovered the book "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up" by Marie Kondo. Since then, I have been striving to apply her approach, called the Konmari Method, to my own home.

There are a growing number of posts in the blogosphere detailing the methodology and personal journeys in Konmari. There are also a lot of videos about how to fold shirts the Konmari way. I am a convert, and now enjoy folding laundry. It is almost an act of meditation. And in the end, I have these beautiful rectangular parcels of clothing.

However, I was still left feeling a little bit unsatisfied with my 3-year-old's pajamas. She has shelves in her closet, and I keep her clothes at her level. She likes to dress herself. But, when she was trying to find a matching pajama top and bottom, it often resulted in a big mess. Thus began my quest for a solution--one that would continue to foster her independence, while reducing the amount of refolding I was doing each week.

My solution? Fold the tops and bottoms together! Into one rectangle, instead of two. Not only does it keep things more tidy, it also saves space.

Step one: Lay out top face up and smooth wrinkles. Place pants folded in half on top. They should be positioned so the waistband is just below the collar, and pants are in the center of top.

 Step two: Fold side of shirt over one edge of the pajama pants.

 Step three: Fold sleeve down.

Step five: Repeat steps 2 and 3 on the other side.

Step six: Fold legs of pajama pants over bottom edge of top. 

Step seven: Fold top one-third of shirt over.

Step eight: Fold over again to form a rectangle. 

When you are done, you should have a tidy little pajama parcel that will stand on end either in a drawer, or on a shelf.

If you decide to try this out, I'd love to see a photo of your child's happy pajamas.