Remember my post about how adults seem to have forgotten how to play? Well, I’ve been thinking more about this and as I watched my 4 year old squat effortlessly, I had a thought. It’s not getting older that does it: it’s our pants! (He was wearing sweatpants while squatting.)
Let me take you deeper into this train of thought. A couple of weeks ago I was sorting through my son’s clothes and came across a pair of jeans. I tried them on him and he fought against them “No! I don’t like them! They’re hard!” EUREKA! It’s the hard pants! Jeans are stiff, restrict movement and therefore reduce the comfort of play.
Think back to when you started wearing jeans. How much swinging around on the monkey bars did you do? No more playgrounding for me. Have you ever tried to run in jeans? (I actually saw a guy complete a 10k in denim this past weekend and I’m in awe.) I can remember trying to get used to the stiffness and tightness of denim in about Grade 7 or 8. It was a weird feeling to get used to back then and even now that I’m at home or fitnessing it up 99% of the time, I’m all about comfy active wear.
I won’t force my kids to wear jeans because I completely understand how much easier it is to run and play and jump and swing in active wear. I just came home from being out in public and I changed out of my skinny jeans within 2 minutes of walking in the door.
I used to judge moms who spent all day looking they were ready to head to the yoga studio (we’ve all seen that video, right?) but I have willingly joined their ranks and I’m PROUDLY and PUBLICLY announcing my love for active wear as my unofficial-official uniform!
So, does my theory about denim being the death of play make sense now?
Mindset Events 