They were in my drawer!

Years ago—I can't find the post right now, though I know it exists, Rachel walked into the house after school loudly complaining that her pants were uncomfortable.

I looked at her and gasped because she was very clearly wearing Miriam's pants. 

This is less of a big deal now that they're about the same size of people. But back then (when Miriam was a teeny preschooler and Rachel was already in school) they were sized considerably differently. 

"Now wonder!" I said. "Those are Miriam's pants!"

"Well, they were in my drawer!" Rachel retorted. 

And that line...is one that frequently pops up at our house. Most recently it popped up last weekend when Benjamin got dressed to go for a walk between conference sessions. 

"Man," he said. "My 6T pants are finally getting too small for me! These things are so tight!"

"6T?" I said. "Those can't be yours! 6T is much closer to Alexander's size than..."

"But they were in my drawer!" Benjamin protested.

"And who puts your laundry away?" I asked. 

"Good point."

Clearly a pair of Alexander's pants had gotten mixed in with Benjamin's pants at some point. Benjamin swears he's been wearing them regularly...but I disagree. I think the reason they were "suddenly" much too small is because they've been too small for years and have belonged to his little brother for a while now. 

Rachel points out that Benjamin's confusion over pants is "much worse" than her confusion over Miriam's pants because (1) Benjamin is five years older than Alexander and she is only two years older than Miriam, and (2) her mistake happened when she was in the early years of elementary school...not the end of middle school. 

It took some convincing that those pants were not his ("But they are! They were in my drawer!") and that even if they were his pants they should clearly be his pants on longer. Once he was fully convinced of his error he ran inside to change.