6 Ways to Wear our Long Johns

True, beautiful, and good. These are the qualities we look for in clothing and toys for our own children. Lately, we've been thinking of adding another- versatile. With the urge to simplify our own lives and closets, we are pretty happy that our merino thermal long johns check off so many boxes. Here are 6 ways to wear our long johns day and night.


1. Everyday pajamas

With one sock on, one sock off or the blankets kicked off, you can sleep easy knowing that your little one will still be warm and cozy in the goodness of merino wool. Merino wool naturally helps regulate body temperature, so our long johns ideal for getting a good night's rest.


2. Matching Sibling Jammies

 

Image by @lee_kristine

Because who doesn't love twinning? Mix or match colors for all the little ones (up to size 8T ;) in your life.


3. Christmas Jammies

Image by @burtsbrisplease

We've heard our windmill pattern looks like stars, snowflakes, and magic. Whatever you make of them, they are the perfect festive and cozy jammie to wake up in on Christmas morning. Plus, you can still wear them every other day of the year. Again, we love versatility :).


4. Loungewear

 

Image by @melissaclickphotography

No need to rush to get into those day time clothes. Spend those slow morning lounging, playing some music, and lounging some more.


4. Activewear

Image by @iamjesshunter

Merino wool is a naturally high performance fabric. It's breathable, moisture-wicking, and odor controlling all while being super soft and cozy. So keep on dancin' in the wild in our long johns and you'll feel as fresh as can be.


6. Baselayer

Image by @partyforthree

Layer up! When the snow finally falls, our long johns make the perfect baselayer underneath those snowsuits for reasons noted in 5. But we can keep going. Merino wool is also quick drying, and still retains heat even when wet. Plus it's naturally antibacterial, so when your kids don't want to peel off their long johns, relax and hit the sledding hill one more time ;).

Shop all merino thermal long johns here.

Sitting in the Shade of Our Crab Apple Tree

If you've taken a peak at the look book for our thermal long johns, you might have spotted a few tree stumps adorned in moss and ferns. Well, those tree stumps now reside in our backyard. Our kids love to jump from stump to stump, precariously teetering upon each before they catch their balance.

When we picked up the stumps awhile back, the woodsmith included a few thinly sliced large wooden rings for our kids to play with. He told us that, in a few months, the wooden rings would dry up, crack, and fall apart.

And so, this past weekend, our little boy accidentally dropped one of his wooden rings, and it cracked into two. He quickly looked up, his eyes full of tears, when I said, “Oh wow!  Look, you made two pieces now!” It somehow worked. Tears dried up quickly and he excitedly told his sister about his good fortune.

So naturally she took her wooden ring and dropped it in the bark. Nothing happened. So she threw it down hard against the bark. Nothing happened.

I was about to tell her to throw it against the concrete, but I stopped myself. Why should I interject? She and her brother were happily playing together, and no one was asking for my help. So I sat back.

And sure enough, she figured out that her wooden ring would break into many pieces when dropped upon the stone steps leading up to our backdoor. For the next thirty minutes, our kids continued to break apart their little wooden rings, counting how many pieces they each had, and just laughing with each other. 

For my part, I rested in the shade of our crab apple tree and just watched them. I marveled at their ability to become so singularly focused on one thing, to lose themselves in an activity with each other, to experience the world without distraction.

Childhood is beautiful and spontaneous. As grown-ups, we organize so much of our lives (oftentimes out of necessity to run our households and businesses), but kids live moment to moment. It’s why they are quick to smile and quick to cry. Their senses and emotions are always engaged.

And I wondered what would’ve happened if I had interjected. Would they have happily played together for the next thirty minutes? I don’t think so. 

As parents, we want to be involved in our kids’ lives. But sometimes the best thing we can do is to step back and let them figure things out for themselves. Kids are natural scientists, experimenting each and every day, testing out their worlds to better understand their environments and each other.

It’s a small thing — breaking apart dry cracking wooden rings — but it allowed our kids to practice problem-solving skills and engage each other. I need to remind myself to step back more often and just watch childhood’s magic unfold.

Because I tell you what…it’s pretty great to sit in the shade of that crab apple tree.

Spreading Opportunity Through Needle and Thread

#WhoMadeMyClothes

When you think of Chasing Windmills, we hope you’re inspired.

We hope you think of mountainous New Zealand and Australian meadows where merino sheep freely roam.  We hope you and your little one appreciate the super soft, ethically and sustainably sourced wool certified by the Responsible Wool Standard fiber that serves as the soulful base of our kid's wear.

Although our story starts with merino sheep, it doesn’t end there.  Someone has to transform our rolls of merino fabric into beautifully simple and timeless garments.  And so, we hope you also think of our new manufacturing partner in North Carolina: Opportunity Threads, a worker-owned factory and proud member of the Carolina Textile District.

We turned to Opportunity Threads to manufacturer our new at-play collection, not only because of their tremendous skill and attention to detail, but because we also love their vision.  They are part of a concerted effort to revitalize the once-booming textiles industry in the Carolinas.  They believe in their workers, so much so that after a vetting process, their workers have the opportunity to become owners in Opportunity Threads — quite literally spreading opportunity through needle and thread.  

We’re grateful that our new at-play collection is made in the USA in a factory where success is shared among its employee-owners.  We’re grateful to share this part of our story with you.

The Good Neighbor

If Hollywood were to cast the quintessential caring neighbors, it would be the Nussbaums.  Lucky for me, I grew up across the street from the Nussbaum family. 

On more than one occasion, they called my parents when, as a little tike, I decided to take my tricycle for a ride without telling my parents.  In the buck.  Down the middle of the street.  Without a care in the world or a shred of learned modesty.  Always the second set of eyes, the Nussbaums became family.

They also quickly forgave me when I proceeded to break all of Mrs. Nussbaum’s flower pots.  Although I have no memory of the event, I have been reminded many times of my curiosity for breaking clay pots as a little kid.  The bond between our two families was stronger than a broken flower pot (or ten).

Some three decades since the flower pot tempest, I no longer live across the street from the Nussbaums.  But they are still neighbors at heart.  And they still engage in neighborly acts of kindness.

As just one example, every New Year Mr. Nussbaum makes a very special delivery: Nuts.  And not just any sad sack of peanuts.  It’s a tin of perfectly seasoned cashews, almonds, macadamias, walnuts, and every other nut discovered by mankind.  Each tin is hand-delivered by Mr. Nussbaum himself.  

Mr. Nussbaum makes these deliveries under the guise of a “business” visit.  You see, Mr. Nussbaum is a real estate agent.  He has helped his clients — oftentimes, friends and family — buy and sell homes throughout Colorado.  For longer than I’ve been alive, Mr. Nussbaum has been helping people find a place to call home — including me, my wife, and our two beautiful kids.

And so, when he arrives on our doorstep with a tin of delicious nuts, he makes the delivery under the auspices of a networking business visit.  But, in reality, Mr. Nussbaum does not come to our doorstep with a tin of nuts for business.  

He comes to see us in the home that he sold to us.  To hear the laughter of our kids, to see the clutter of our family room, to tip-toe over a Hazel Village stuffed animal or two.  He comes to be our neighbor once again.

Good neighbors — neighbors like the Nussbaums — remind us of the importance of the human connection.  Some may see Mr. Nussbaum’s delivery of many dozens tins of nuts as a fools errand, harkening back to a bygone era where personal contact mattered before texting, facebooking, instagramming, and other means of virtual living.

Mr. Nussbaum may be chasing his own windmill, but it’s a chase worth pursuing: the chase of something personal, authentic, heart-warming, and kind.  It’s the chase of the human connection.  It’s what a good neighbor does.