Buying the next size up. The stiffness is strange to me, but my son prefers these to jeans. The pants have endured his abuse til the very end of the year. In kindergarten, with different brands and definitely with jeans, I started patching pants in October. This year, I've taken the pants out of commission if they have holes, but that didn't happen until March/April. He's outgrown his pants before destroying them. That's a first.