Comfortable Clothes

 

   A few weeks ago when shopping at Lands End for a few items I cam across a table of folded up knit pants. I found a pair in my size and tried them on. They fit. I took them along with the rest of the items I planned to purchase and paid for them. I took them home, put them away and forgot about them.

   Until last week.....

    I found the pants folded up as I was looking for something to wear. It was a stay at home day and it was too cold in the house to wear leggings. I took them out and put them on. They looked good and more important they were comfortable. I happily wore them all day. 

   The next day I had to work. When I got home from work I found the pants neatly folded on top of the cedar chest at the foot of my bed. I changed out of my work clothes and into those pants. They were the perfect thing to wear.

   Then it hit me. I've become my grandmother. When I was younger and spending summers with my grandparents on the farm, I remember my grandma wearing polyester slacks in the house. (and outside the house too) I always thought they looked silly. They had an elastic waist and a sewn in crease down the middle. I was never going to dress like that when I got that age, I told myself.

   The words came back to me as I looked down at my pants. Granted, they are not polyester and do not have a crease sewn down the middle. (although I do have a pair of knit work pants that do) They do have an elastic waist and are not jeans. 

   Maybe it's the fact that I have gained a few Covid pounds or maybe it is because the weight I have has somehow shifted to other areas of my body, but jeans are not that comfortable for me anymore. (except one pair of stretch jeans.) In fact jeans have never been the most comfortable thing for me to wear. I remember many times when I was in college and when I was out of college wearing skits, knit pants or even sweat pants around the house because they were more comfortable.

   I thought about this for a minute. Why I can't I wear comfortable clothes around the house? It's my house (actually C's and my house) and I should be able to wear whatever I want. If I want to wear something comfortable in the house, then I can do just that.

   There's is a woman that I know from church named Elisabeth. She grew up in Russia. One of the customs she told me she has is that when she comes home from running errands or working, she changes into her "house clothes". In her case, house clothes are a bit like pajamas. 

    I'm starting to think of my knit pants as "house clothes". Somehow that feels better in my head than images of my grandma in her polyester pants. Maybe it is a sign that I am becoming more comfortable with myself. Maybe this is me choosing what is best for me rather than worrying what others will think or how others will see me. 

  Or maybe I just like being comfortable......