Ha, I do miss the extra crotch room. Here’s actually an interesting article about why women’s pants have been getting even tighter in the crotch (spoiler alert - it’s money):

https://fashion-incubator.com/anatomy_of_a_camel_toe_pt1/

https://fashion-incubator.com/anatomy_of_a_camel_toe_pt2/

I used to wear only men’s pants, including cargo pants, and oh boy is it disgusting how much better I get treated by service workers, etc. since switching to vaguely fashionable women’s pants. Fit issues aside, it’s a lot more complicated than “just buy men’s pants” (although I guess at least cargo pants for women are back “in” now?)

the waist thing is a non-issue

Depends on the shape of your hips. I wore men’s pants almost exclusively until my hips changed a lot during pregnancy and I haven’t been able to find a comfy pair of men’s pants since (and I’m far from the only woman I know with this problem). Glad it works for you, though! The huge pockets are so nice and the fabric is usually sturdier, too.

I’ll stick with ikea until the kids move out

Yeah, this is it for us. I grew up in a home with a lot of “grandma’s heirloom dining table” type items that I was punished for bumping into, spilling on, etc. While I do believe in teaching kids respect, it seems like a lot of unnecessary stress for both parents and kids to use this stuff as your daily driver and we don’t have the space for special-occasions-only furniture.