Holey Jeans

I often wonder what goes through a child's head as they ask you a question over something that has them perplexed. What is their ideal of whatever it is they are asking about?

I own a pair of shall we say artfully distressed blue jeans and today, one or two children out of every class I came into contact with asked, "Ms. Sarah, why you got holes in your pants?"

One such conversation went like this, please keep in mind that by this time I'd grown tired of answering this question:

"Ms. Sarah why you got holes in your pants?"

"Well when I went to the pants store this is the only pair they had left."

"Oh, well I hope you didn't pay too much for them."

"No not really."

"You know, my mommy don't let me wear pant with holes in them."

I have not quite figured out why the children were so worried about the holes in my jeans, and why this particular little girl was concerned for my pocketbook. It would be fascinating to delve into the minds of children and listen to the inner monologue that each of them has with themselves as they ask questions and receive answers. Do they buy into what we tell them, or simply store the knowledge for later use? If I were to have carried that conversation further, would we have continued to talk about holey clothes or would this have lead into another subject entirely? And do children really care if my pants have holes or not, or do they just want to satisfy that momentary curiosity?

What I learned today: Don't wear pants with holes in them if you are going to work in a classroom.