Nathan and the Magic Pants

My 5 year old is a bit..um..quirky at times, but he is also a very logical thinker. That is why my sister sparked a 2 day discussion between him and I about the properties of his magic pants.

We were at my sisters house and he had chocolate on his pants so I told him not to sit on the nice furniture. My sister said she probably had something that would fit him and went to look. She came back with a pair of running pants. Like the ones that High School track runners wear under their super short shorts in the cold wheather. They're very stretchy for grown-ups, so on him they stayed up around his waist, but kinda fit like hammer pants (billowed around his thighs and tight at the ankle.)

Apparently they were very smooth and comfy. He instantly loved them.

Before we left, I took them off and put his chocolate pants back on. He was sad because they were so wonderful and he wanted to keep them.

He gave my sister and big hug and kiss and batted his eyes and she said he could. This is what followed.

"OK, Nathan," I said, "Auntie Rae said you can keep them."

"Forever?" he asked. And I could see the wheels turning in his head.

"Yes. Forever." I replied, then looked over at my sister. "Now how am I going to keep him from wearing those to school?"

She started to laugh and turned to Nathan. "Nathan, those pants are magic. They make you run really really fast, but only if you never wear them to school. If you wear them to school, they'll lose their magical powers and you won't be able to run fast anymore."

"I can't wear them to school?"

"Nope."

"Oh."

We left and went to the car, but I knew it wasn't over. For a while, I stuck with the magic story. We got home and he put them back on. He asked a couple times if he could wear them to school and I would just say no because they'd lose their powers.

I let him sleep in them that night and the next day after he took them off to take a bath, the conversation continued.

"Mom, it's ok if the pants lose their magic powers, I want to wear them to school."

"You don't want to be able to run fast anymore?"

"Well, I don't think they really make me run faster. I just run the same as I did without them."

"You don't think they're really magic?"

"Not really. Do you think I should give them back to Auntie Rae? She thinks they're magic, so maybe she needs them so she can run faster."

"I think she can probably run pretty fast without them. You can keep them if you want."

"So, I can wear them to school?"

"No, you still can't wear them to school."

"Whyy-yyy?" (that's a whiny why in case you can't tell)

"Because, they're like super comfy jammies and we don't wear jammies to school."

"OK." he sighed. "I'll just wear them on pajama day then."

At that point, I just laughed and gave up.