diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 38c4754..c473703 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -187,8 +187,8 @@ pub fn main() !void {
         const child = win.child(.{
             .x_off = win.width / 2 - 20,
             .y_off = win.height / 2 - 3,
-            .width = .{ .limit = 40 },
-            .height = .{ .limit = 3 },
+            .width = 40 ,
+            .height = 3 ,
             .border = .{
                 .where = .all,
                 .style = style,
diff --git a/examples/table.zig b/examples/table.zig
index 25e623f..7d4e281 100644
--- a/examples/table.zig
+++ b/examples/table.zig
@@ -219,8 +219,8 @@ pub fn main() !void {
                     const see_win = win.child(.{
                         .x_off = 0,
                         .y_off = 1,
-                        .width = .{ .limit = win.width },
-                        .height = .{ .limit = 4 },
+                        .width = win.width,
+                        .height = 4,
                     });
                     see_win.fill(.{ .style = .{ .bg = ctx.bg } });
                     const content_logo =
@@ -256,8 +256,8 @@ pub fn main() !void {
         const top_bar = win.child(.{
             .x_off = 0,
             .y_off = 0,
-            .width = .{ .limit = win.width },
-            .height = .{ .limit = win.height / top_div },
+            .width = win.width,
+            .height = win.height / top_div,
         });
         for (title_segs[0..]) |*title_seg|
             title_seg.style.bg = if (active == .top) selected_bg else other_bg;
@@ -275,8 +275,8 @@ pub fn main() !void {
         const middle_bar = win.child(.{
             .x_off = 0,
             .y_off = win.height / top_div,
-            .width = .{ .limit = win.width },
-            .height = .{ .limit = win.height - (top_bar.height + 1) },
+            .width = win.width,
+            .height = win.height - (top_bar.height + 1),
         });
         if (user_list.items.len > 0) {
             demo_tbl.active = active == .mid;
@@ -294,8 +294,8 @@ pub fn main() !void {
         const bottom_bar = win.child(.{
             .x_off = 0,
             .y_off = win.height - 1,
-            .width = .{ .limit = win.width },
-            .height = .{ .limit = 1 },
+            .width = win.width,
+            .height = 1,
         });
         if (active == .btm) bottom_bar.fill(.{ .style = .{ .bg = active_bg } });
         cmd_input.draw(bottom_bar);
diff --git a/examples/text_input.zig b/examples/text_input.zig
index e801ca1..45baa70 100644
--- a/examples/text_input.zig
+++ b/examples/text_input.zig
@@ -141,8 +141,8 @@ pub fn main() !void {
         const child = win.child(.{
             .x_off = win.width / 2 - 20,
             .y_off = win.height / 2 - 3,
-            .width = .{ .limit = 40 },
-            .height = .{ .limit = 3 },
+            .width = 40,
+            .height = 3,
             .border = .{
                 .where = .all,
                 .style = style,
diff --git a/examples/view.zig b/examples/view.zig
index 89a29da..3e4be93 100644
--- a/examples/view.zig
+++ b/examples/view.zig
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ pub fn main() !void {
         win.clear();
 
         const controls_win = win.child(.{
-            .height = .{ .limit = 1 },
+            .height = 1,
         });
         _ = controls_win.print(
             if (win.width >= 112) &.{
@@ -155,8 +155,8 @@ pub fn main() !void {
             win.child(.{
                 .y_off = controls_win.height,
                 .border = .{ .where = .top },
-                .width = .{ .limit = 45 },
-                .height = .{ .limit = 15 },
+                .width = 45,
+                .height = 15,
             })
         else
             win.child(.{
diff --git a/examples/vt.zig b/examples/vt.zig
index 4a61307..cdbc748 100644
--- a/examples/vt.zig
+++ b/examples/vt.zig
@@ -94,8 +94,8 @@ pub fn main() !void {
         const child = win.child(.{
             .x_off = 4,
             .y_off = 2,
-            .width = .{ .limit = win.width - 8 },
-            .height = .{ .limit = win.width - 6 },
+            .width = 8,
+            .height = 6,
             .border = .{
                 .where = .all,
             },
diff --git a/src/Window.zig b/src/Window.zig
index dd3d628..0c5611c 100644
--- a/src/Window.zig
+++ b/src/Window.zig
@@ -9,11 +9,6 @@ const gw = @import("gwidth.zig");
 
 const Window = @This();
 
-pub const Size = union(enum) {
-    expand,
-    limit: u16,
-};
-
 /// horizontal offset from the screen
 x_off: u16,
 /// vertical offset from the screen
@@ -32,27 +27,18 @@ fn initChild(
     self: Window,
     x_off: u16,
     y_off: u16,
-    width: Size,
-    height: Size,
+    maybe_width: ?u16,
+    maybe_height: ?u16,
 ) Window {
-    const resolved_width: u16 = switch (width) {
-        .expand => self.width -| x_off,
-        .limit => |w| blk: {
-            if (w + x_off > self.width) {
-                break :blk self.width -| x_off;
-            }
-            break :blk w;
-        },
-    };
-    const resolved_height: u16 = switch (height) {
-        .expand => self.height -| y_off,
-        .limit => |h| blk: {
-            if (h + y_off > self.height) {
-                break :blk self.height -| y_off;
-            }
-            break :blk h;
-        },
-    };
+    const resolved_width: u16 = if (maybe_width) |width|
+        @min(width, self.width -| x_off)
+    else
+        self.width -| x_off;
+
+    const resolved_height: u16 = if (maybe_height) |height|
+        @min(height, self.height -| y_off)
+    else
+        self.height -| y_off;
     return Window{
         .x_off = x_off + self.x_off,
         .y_off = y_off + self.y_off,
@@ -66,9 +52,9 @@ pub const ChildOptions = struct {
     x_off: u16 = 0,
     y_off: u16 = 0,
     /// the width of the resulting child, including any borders
-    width: Size = .expand,
+    width: ?u16 = null,
     /// the height of the resulting child, including any borders
-    height: Size = .expand,
+    height: ?u16 = null,
     border: BorderOptions = .{},
 };
 
@@ -180,7 +166,7 @@ pub fn child(self: Window, opts: ChildOptions) Window {
     const w_delt: u16 = if (loc.right) 1 else 0;
     const h_ch: u16 = h -| y_off -| h_delt;
     const w_ch: u16 = w -| x_off -| w_delt;
-    return result.initChild(x_off, y_off, .{ .limit = w_ch }, .{ .limit = h_ch });
+    return result.initChild(x_off, y_off, w_ch, h_ch);
 }
 
 /// writes a cell to the location in the window
@@ -479,7 +465,7 @@ test "Window size set" {
         .screen = undefined,
     };
 
-    const ch = parent.initChild(1, 1, .expand, .expand);
+    const ch = parent.initChild(1, 1, null, null);
     try std.testing.expectEqual(19, ch.width);
     try std.testing.expectEqual(19, ch.height);
 }
@@ -493,7 +479,7 @@ test "Window size set too big" {
         .screen = undefined,
     };
 
-    const ch = parent.initChild(0, 0, .{ .limit = 21 }, .{ .limit = 21 });
+    const ch = parent.initChild(0, 0, 21, 21);
     try std.testing.expectEqual(20, ch.width);
     try std.testing.expectEqual(20, ch.height);
 }
@@ -507,7 +493,7 @@ test "Window size set too big with offset" {
         .screen = undefined,
     };
 
-    const ch = parent.initChild(10, 10, .{ .limit = 21 }, .{ .limit = 21 });
+    const ch = parent.initChild(10, 10, 21, 21);
     try std.testing.expectEqual(10, ch.width);
     try std.testing.expectEqual(10, ch.height);
 }
@@ -521,7 +507,7 @@ test "Window size nested offsets" {
         .screen = undefined,
     };
 
-    const ch = parent.initChild(10, 10, .{ .limit = 21 }, .{ .limit = 21 });
+    const ch = parent.initChild(10, 10, 21, 21);
     try std.testing.expectEqual(11, ch.x_off);
     try std.testing.expectEqual(11, ch.y_off);
 }
diff --git a/src/widgets/CodeView.zig b/src/widgets/CodeView.zig
index bb6bbbb..4608b8e 100644
--- a/src/widgets/CodeView.zig
+++ b/src/widgets/CodeView.zig
@@ -39,8 +39,8 @@ pub fn draw(self: *@This(), win: vaxis.Window, buffer: Buffer, opts: DrawOptions
         nl.draw(win.child(.{
             .x_off = 0,
             .y_off = 0,
-            .width = .{ .limit = pad_left },
-            .height = .{ .limit = win.height },
+            .width = pad_left,
+            .height = win.height,
         }), self.scroll_view.scroll.y);
     }
     self.drawCode(win.child(.{ .x_off = pad_left }), buffer, opts);
diff --git a/src/widgets/ScrollView.zig b/src/widgets/ScrollView.zig
index bbcab46..f62b5d1 100644
--- a/src/widgets/ScrollView.zig
+++ b/src/widgets/ScrollView.zig
@@ -65,8 +65,8 @@ pub fn draw(self: *@This(), parent: vaxis.Window, content_size: struct {
         };
         const bg = parent.child(.{
             .x_off = parent.width -| opts.character.width,
-            .width = .{ .limit = opts.character.width },
-            .height = .{ .limit = parent.height },
+            .width = opts.character.width,
+            .height = parent.height,
         });
         bg.fill(.{ .char = opts.character, .style = opts.bg });
         vbar.draw(bg);
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ pub fn bounds(self: *@This(), parent: vaxis.Window) BoundingBox {
 pub fn writeCell(self: *@This(), parent: vaxis.Window, col: usize, row: usize, cell: vaxis.Cell) void {
     const b = self.bounds(parent);
     if (!b.inside(col, row)) return;
-    const win = parent.child(.{ .width = .{ .limit = b.x2 - b.x1 }, .height = .{ .limit = b.y2 - b.y1 } });
+    const win = parent.child(.{ .width = b.x2 - b.x1, .height = b.y2 - b.y1 });
     win.writeCell(col -| self.scroll.x, row -| self.scroll.y, cell);
 }
 
@@ -123,6 +123,6 @@ pub fn writeCell(self: *@This(), parent: vaxis.Window, col: usize, row: usize, c
 pub fn readCell(self: *@This(), parent: vaxis.Window, col: usize, row: usize) ?vaxis.Cell {
     const b = self.bounds(parent);
     if (!b.inside(col, row)) return;
-    const win = parent.child(.{ .width = .{ .limit = b.width }, .height = .{ .limit = b.height } });
+    const win = parent.child(.{ .width = b.width, .height = b.height });
     return win.readCell(col -| self.scroll.x, row -| self.scroll.y);
 }
diff --git a/src/widgets/Table.zig b/src/widgets/Table.zig
index 5fdcfdb..531d8ef 100644
--- a/src/widgets/Table.zig
+++ b/src/widgets/Table.zig
@@ -211,8 +211,8 @@ pub fn drawTable(
 
     const table_win = win.child(.{
         .y_off = table_ctx.y_off,
-        .width = .{ .limit = win.width },
-        .height = .{ .limit = win.height },
+        .width = win.width,
+        .height = win.height,
     });
 
     // Headers
@@ -237,8 +237,8 @@ pub fn drawTable(
         const hdr_win = table_win.child(.{
             .x_off = col_start,
             .y_off = 0,
-            .width = .{ .limit = col_width },
-            .height = .{ .limit = 1 },
+            .width = col_width,
+            .height = 1,
             .border = .{ .where = if (table_ctx.header_borders and idx > 0) .left else .none },
         });
         var hdr = switch (table_ctx.header_align) {
@@ -297,8 +297,8 @@ pub fn drawTable(
         var row_win = table_win.child(.{
             .x_off = 0,
             .y_off = @intCast(1 + row + table_ctx.active_y_off),
-            .width = .{ .limit = table_win.width },
-            .height = .{ .limit = 1 },
+            .width = table_win.width,
+            .height = 1,
             //.border = .{ .where = if (table_ctx.row_borders) .top else .none },
         });
         if (table_ctx.start + row == table_ctx.row) {
@@ -328,8 +328,8 @@ pub fn drawTable(
                 const item_win = row_win.child(.{
                     .x_off = col_start,
                     .y_off = 0,
-                    .width = .{ .limit = col_width },
-                    .height = .{ .limit = 1 },
+                    .width = col_width,
+                    .height = 1,
                     .border = .{ .where = if (table_ctx.col_borders and col_idx > 0) .left else .none },
                 });
                 const item_txt = switch (ItemT) {
diff --git a/src/widgets/View.zig b/src/widgets/View.zig
index e068ef6..55942d3 100644
--- a/src/widgets/View.zig
+++ b/src/widgets/View.zig
@@ -115,8 +115,8 @@ pub fn toWin(self: *View, win: Window, config: RenderConfig) !struct { u16, u16
     x = @min(x, self.screen.width -| width);
     y = @min(y, self.screen.height -| height);
     const child = win.child(.{
-        .width = .{ .limit = width },
-        .height = .{ .limit = height },
+        .width = width,
+        .height = height,
     });
     self.draw(child, .{ .x_off = x, .y_off = y });
     return .{ x, y };
diff --git a/src/widgets/alignment.zig b/src/widgets/alignment.zig
index f3c90e9..814a33a 100644
--- a/src/widgets/alignment.zig
+++ b/src/widgets/alignment.zig
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ pub fn center(parent: Window, cols: u16, rows: u16) Window {
     return parent.child(.{
         .x_off = x_off,
         .y_off = y_off,
-        .width = .{ .limit = cols },
-        .height = .{ .limit = rows },
+        .width = cols,
+        .height = rows,
     });
 }