No pants, no problem: a 3-year-old creates Aspen’s newest fashion trend

There is an old alpine climbing creed that says: if you’re not hungry, you brought too much food. If you’re warm, you brought too many clothes.

Living in a mountain town, I think that idea applies to more than climbing: you can be prepared without making sure every moment is perfectly comfortable.

As caregivers, we are very good at preparing.

We bring the snacks. Then the backup snacks. Water bottles. Sweatshirts. Sunscreen. Band-Aids. Extra socks. A change of clothes. Maybe two changes of clothes. We check the weather, think about nap schedules, calculate how long we will be gone and try to predict every possible thing a child might need before they even know they need it.

But somewhere along the way, I think we can start believing that good caregiving means making sure a child is never hungry for ten minutes, never chilly walking back to the car, never bored waiting for dinner and never inconvenienced because something did not go according to plan.

Sometimes you are hungry and dinner is still 20 minutes away.

Sometimes you forgot your gloves.

Sometimes the hike is harder than you thought it would be.

Sometimes it rains.

Sometimes the thing you wanted is not available.

And sometimes the adult in charge forgets the extra pants.

I was out with a 3-year-old boy one day when he had a little accident, and I realized I had somehow remembered plenty of things except a change of underwear and pants.

We were having such a fun time that rushing home seemed unnecessary. He had a sweater with him, so we wrapped it around his waist and kept going.

He thought it was hilarious.

What could have been a stressful moment turned into him confidently walking around town in his new outfit like he had just invented Aspen’s newest fashion trend.

And I think there was a lesson in that too.

Adults forget things.

Plans go wrong.

We improvise.

Those experiences sound almost too small to matter, but childhood is full of them. Every little inconvenience gives children a chance to learn: I can handle this.

I can be cold for a few minutes.

I can wait until lunch.

The plan can change.

We can forget something and still have a good day.

Children need to feel safe and cared for. But safe does not have to mean perfectly comfortable.

Sometimes they are cold for a few minutes.

Sometimes they have to wait.

Sometimes they are disappointed.

And maybe we don’t always need to rush in and make the feeling disappear.

There is something useful in learning that discomfort passes.

The same goes for us.

Parents and caregivers are remembering a hundred things at once. Eventually someone is going to forget the water bottle, the gloves, the favorite stuffed animal or, in my case, the pants.

So we adapt.

We improvise.

We find another solution.

We can pack the snacks, check the weather and try our best to remember everything.

But life doesn't always go according to plan.

Being prepared isn't about having everything you need. It's about figuring things out with what you've got.