When we had our third child, people would ask if the addition made things much harder. My honest answer was that the baby was a challenge, but it was the laundry that was killing us.

Now that I’ve gone back to work, I have a similar answer. I feel as though I’m getting into my groove at school, but, again, the laundry might do us in. When we get behind, the laundry accumulates in depressing piles in the kids’ bedrooms or in the mudroom. When we’re all caught up, their tiny closets are bursting at the seams.

As I contemplated the switch to fall clothes, I hatched a plan. We would provide each child with five pairs of pants and ten tops. Pants would be neutral and tops could offer color and fun. As the kids are still at the age where they let me do the shopping (those days are numbered), I would take into account everyone’s favorite colors and styles. This should be plenty as, just like adults, kids tend to wear only a certain percentage of their wardrobe.

I won’t even begin to go down the road of commenting on the state of the children’s fashion industry, as enough folks have done that recently. But let me just say that in order to complete this task, I had to shop at seven different stores. Mostly online. And that factored in several hand-me-downs and things that still fit from last season.

Today, I pulled the trigger on the plan, and purged and restocked the closets. I left a few short sleeve shirts and shorts for the occasional summer-ish days that remain. But otherwise? Things in their closets are deliriously simple.

Now if only I could look at my own closet through a similar lens…