Monday, December 31, 2007

Four Letter Word For "It Has 4 Walls And A Door", For $800 Please, Alex

Up until the age of one, Boy-Child#2 slept in his crib in his own room. "Slept" is a strong word. More like: took brief naps periodically throughout the hours of darkness. At some point after his first birthday, he became strongly opposed to his own room. Perhaps it was too dark. Or too many night lights. Or it had become the fiery pit of hell. Or just too much Classic Pooh. Whatever the reason; he would not sleep in it. Ever. At all. Not even a little bit. Nope. None. The "cry it out" technique was one he challenged. Like an Olympian. Gold medal winner that one. He would not cry for an hour or so and then fall blissfully asleep. No. He would cry ALL night. Not that I would know because I would totally do that never inflict that cruelty on a toddler. So, for the next 2 1/2 years he slept with Ma and Pa Farklepants in their bed. And I hardly slept, clinging to the side of the bed like Spiderman any good mother would. At the end of those 2 1/2 years, I was somewhere along the lines of 29 months and 740 days pregnant and dominating 95% of said bed. I needed my flipping and contortion space dammit! There was a whole strategy with the pillows that did not allow for an extra, albeit small person in the limited space provided. In other words: Boy-Child#2 got the boot from the bed. It was at this point that the ultimate test of a marriage home improvement decision was made to add an additional bedroom to our 3 bedroom home by turning the loft into a giant room the boys could share. Bunk beds were purchased and occupied in Boy-Child#1's room until at least the framing and enclosing was complete. Drywall was hung. There was taping and spackling. Boy-Child#1's old room was painted shades of salmon and soft pink and a white chair rail was hung. Meanwhile, back in the construction zone, the plastering and painting was done on the hallway side of things. An unfinished door was hung. The beds were moved into what could be considered a room. And friends? Four-ish plus years later, it remains so. It has become the infamous household phenomena referred too as "I Don't Even Notice It Anymore Until Something Reminds Me". Seriously. And on my honor; probably sometime around just before Boy-Child#1 leaves for college, a handy man will be hired to complete the job.

I just asked Mr. Farklepants to install some shelving for storage in this here office and am now very mad with myself for suggesting it.

And a Happy New Year's Eve to all y'alls! Enjoy and be safe. xoxo

7 comments:

Burgh Baby said...

I'm sure it will do nothing to make you feel better, but we too own a home where projects go to die. We started replacing the baseboards in our kitchen/dining/living room four years ago. Still not done. Walls are half-painted. Cabinets are not installed. I figure we will run around and do it all just in time to sell the place.

Happy New Year!

Karen said...

There's nothing like a building project to test a marriage. My husband and I never fought until we built. Seriously. But 12 years into our marriage and we suddenly had the desire to build, and kill each other. We're just grateful we lived through it to live in the house together.

ALF said...

Home projects - oh man, the stories there are to tell...

Happy 2008 Tootsie Farklepants!

Texasholly said...

I love it. Can you just think of it as art?

1blueshi1 said...

I am loving these stories. Makes me feel better about the genuine vintage 70's orange and brown shag carpet in my home. And the holes therein that show off that gorgeous...whatever gross brown crap they put under carpets. Ugliness, thou are upon the floor of my living room. Another vaccuum cleaner just died in the valiant fight to keep it semi-clean. Me crawling around in the dust mites picking out the visible stuff sounds like a much better alternative to handing Walmart yet another hundred bucks for a new vaccuum, yes?
PLEASE say yes....hehehe.
Happy new year!

Jen said...

Here's to a life someday of blissful uninterrupted sleep.

In the meantime, Happy New Year!

Tootsie Farklepants said...

We toyed with the idea of selling when the market was at its height. Then we looked around and counted all the things that would need repairs and shelved that idea toot-sweet!

1blueshi1~ YES!! ;-)