How much clothes do kids need?

Ellen, left, and Ann have fun exploring all the different styles in their dresser. / Courtesy of Jane Han

By Jane Han

This past weekend, I almost suffocated.

I almost suffocated from my children’s ginormous and monstrous pile of clothes that seemed to have taken on a life of its own and reproduced like mushrooms.

Seriously, where did all these clothes come from?

I’ll get to that later.

Here in Texas, it still gets pretty hot during the day, but mornings and afternoons are chilly.

So I decided to take on one of the most dreaded tasks of the year ― the seasonal wardrobe rotation.

Yes, that time of the year when I put away all the light and thin summer clothes and all the thick and heavy clothes are awakened from their long sleep stuffed away somewhere deep in the closet.

The mere thought of the work involved felt something like being assigned to write a 30-page research paper.

Having three kids means more clothes. Having three daughters means you have enough dresses, skirts, hair bows and shoes to open up a shop.

I knew this task could not possibly be completed in an hour or two, so my husband was in charge of the kids that entire Saturday afternoon.

I stood in front of the main dresser and tried to come up with a smart and efficient action plan, something impressive.

Perhaps because I’m still a novice in this department, I concluded that the only obvious first step was to put away all the summer clothes that were taking up every inch of the eight-drawer dresser and two small walk-in closets.

But first I needed a place to put away these clothes ― dozens and dozens of them ― so what do I do?

I haul out five huge, clear plastic bins packed with winter clothing ― and dump everything on the bed.

Ta-da, empty storage space.

I love easy solutions.

The hard part came next ― combing through every one of the roughly 120 shirts and blouses, 80 dresses and skirts and 90 pairs of pants to separate ones that are now too small for all three girls.

And yes, you read all the numbers correctly.

It does sound a little crazy, but keep in mind that I have three girls, so each item the girls own is pretty much multiplied by three.

I think the separation process alone took close to two hours.

I folded all the outgrown clothing and piled them into clean shopping bags so that I could find their next owners.

All the other ones went straight into the empty bins.

OK, halfway done. Now the second half, the harder and longer half.

Winter clothes are so much harder to organize. They’re just so big and bulky, even kids’ clothes.

During this whole process, I don’t know how many times I said to myself, “God, I’m glad I moved out of the East Coast.”

I now live in a region where winter is short and mild.

OK then, why do my kids still collectively own 30 coats and jackets?

It’s time to talk about where all these clothes came from.

Since giving birth to my twins and then my youngest, I don’t think I personally bought any more than 10 pieces of clothing for them. Honestly.

I mentioned earlier, but I am not a big spender on my children ― their grandparents are, especially my mom.

Her newest hobby is to go shopping for her three granddaughters.

She would buy the cutest and latest styles ― three of each ― and ship them from Korea, at least once every two weeks.

My mother-in-law does the exact same, but not as often.

So what we have here is a collaborative collection of children’s clothing merchandised by both grandmas.

It’s not like they always talk to each other, so sometimes my girls get spoiled with two new winter jackets each in one single week.

I cannot put into words how thankful I am for their love and generosity. And I can only imagine how much money I’m saving by not having to buy children’s clothing, three of everything.

But while rummaging through my children’s wardrobe, I realized that not all of their clothes even get worn ― not even once ― in a given season.

So how much is really needed?

I turned to some experienced moms and wardrobe experts for their advice, and the number is shockingly small.

Many say seven casual outfits (one for every day of the week), three dressy outfits (some fancier than others), three pairs of pajamas and one or two sets of seasonal outerwear is plenty enough.

Wow, so that’s all it takes?

I guess, after all, it is never too early to start practicing a minimalist lifestyle.

They also mentioned that the whole clothes situation should feel like a piece of cake by now.

Wait, what?

Next year or so, when the girls start wanting to pick out their own clothes, that’s when the real wardrobe wars supposedly begin.

Oh dear.