I'm not sure I gave the whole "sweatpants" issue from my shopping post the attention it deserved.  I am currently "rediscovering" sweatpants (I am stealing the terminology from my friend Karen).  How I have gone so long without such wonderful free-balling fuzziness that are built for relaxation, is beyond me.  I feel as if my T.V. watching has really been brought to the next level.  These sweatpants feel like an intermediate material helping me better fuse myself to the fabric of my lounge-chair.  There is something amniotic about these pants.  I am home.  I am Spartacus.

But for every rediscovery, there must first be a discovery.  And i think the story of that discovery may help to explain my recent abstinence from this bunny-soft fabric caressing my bottom.

I can't remember my first pair of sweatpants (thankfully they weren't memorialized on my childhood room's wall), but more importantly, I remember how long I wore sweatpants as my daily pant-wear of choice.  And the sad answer to that question was, through middle school.  It wasn't that i so much had a particular thing for sweatpants, as I did wear corduroys intermittently, but that I REFUSED to wear jeans.  I found them restrictive and stiff (these wear 80's jeans after all, and this was during the age of "acid-washed" and before "relaxed-fit").  But whatever excuses I try and make, the fact remains that I was probably wrong here, no matter how many unfortunate fashion trends I may have inadvertently avoided (high-waists, pegs, tapering).  Most people agree that denim is one comfy and durable fabric.  But I, alas, was not a "most people" kind of kid (See pic. I am the smaller adora-ball.  The other one is anon, but here's a hint, he's engaged.)
So I wore sweatpants.  To school.  And, to my parents credit, they didn't fight it.  That is how you learn humility folks.  You walk into your middle school every day with relax-wear sweatpants on, with the message "target me for abuse" written across your ass the way "PINK" and "Juicy" are written on today's sweatpants.  What I find humorous about this now, is that 13-year old Matt did not make the connection between his dress bottoms and his congruent rung on the social ladder.  But I'm totally over it now.  Totally.

There is no take home message here (well, maybe "don't wear sweatpants to middle school," but I don't think kids ages 12-14 are really my "blog demographic" [man, i hope not]).  But perhaps, if you are at a loss for last minute gift ideas, you will consider giving your loved one the gift of ultimate demotivation and relaxation.  Help them rediscover sweatpants.