If You Give a Mom a Bookcase
I recently had a saga going on in my house that reminded me strongly of the book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.
In that story, the trouble starts with an innocent little cookie and escalates from there. In the story of my life, the snowball effect started with a simple statement:
"I need a new bookcase."
The need to replace the small existing bookcase in the living room with a larger one became apparent as I was sorting school supplies and eying all the LightUnits, teacher's keys, readers & workbooks that were finding their way into the room in preparation for school. Last year I kept the books that I wasn't using upstairs on another bookcase, but that was rather unhandy and there just wasn't enough room for everything this year! After all, not only were there more books now than ever before, but there were more students!
Thankfully I have a principal who takes the word of his only school-teacher seriously. I said I needed a bigger bookcase one night, and by the next evening we had taken the trailer to Just Cabinets, bought a seven-foot bookcase, brought it home and carried it into the house! Instead of only four shelves, this one had seven, and the potential for what all I could fit on there was incredible.
Indeed.
If you give a Mom a bookcase, she's going to look at it sitting exactly where the old one used to be and contemplate moving it.
When you move the bookcase from one side of the room to the other, you will displace the toybox, and this will make you think of your idea to turn Parker's room into a toy room.
If you turn Parker's room into a toy room, you will need to assess Elasa & Gavin's bedroom and think about how you can turn it from a room for two into a room for three.
You will heave a small toddler bed around until you have room for a dresser from the nursery, and once you have room, you will move dresser into bedroom.
Once the dresser is moved, you will return to the nursery and take everything out of the cedar chest so that it can also be moved into a new position in the hall. Once everything is out, you will realize that you never designated a box for Parker's special baby clothes, ect, so you will find a diaper box that fits the bill, stuff it in the chest and proceed to go looking all over the house for other items that should be included in the box, which will lead you to one of your own bureau drawers.
When you open that particular drawer, you will find yourself organizing and browsing, which will mean showing Elasa & Gavin their baby albums, finding a Willow Tree figurine of a mother & child in which the child has been beheaded, giving the children a bag of special cookies that's been hiding there since your anniversary, and discovering a few more "baby keepsakes" that need to be put in a separate shoebox for Parker.
You will claim a shoebox from the attic, move baby keepsakes into it, shut the drawer to avoid further nostalgic deviances and go back to the cedar chest.
Once you go back to organizing the cedar chest, you will realize that the diaper box has displaced quite a few other "treasure." This will be your opportunity to relocate some of this stuff to new locations, including the yard-sale box.
The beheaded Willow Tree figurine will be toted downstairs for repairs, along with a Willow Tree Angel who is holding a candle on which the teeny-tiny wick has fallen off. You will look for super glue, fail to find any, and write it down on your grocery list.
With the dresser and cedar chest out of the nursery, you will proceed with turning it into a play-room. The children will help lug the toy-box (still full of toys) upstairs to it's new location, along with the doll equipment.
Seeing their toys in Parker's room will remind the children that he is soon to relocate to their room. They will beg and plead for this to happen, but first, the dresser that was moved to the children's room for him to use must be emptied.
And if you empty the dresser, which was currently a handy storage unit for your fabric in particular, you will need to find new places to put things.
You will add "tote" to your grocery list.
At the store, glue and a long, low tote will be placed in the cart.
At home, the two Willow Tree figurines will be repaired and finally placed safely in the closet with an air of satisfaction. The tote will be filled with various pieces of fabric, but first you must sort through it and pair down the selection so it all fits in one tote. Once this is accomplished, you will slide the tote under your bed.
If you are busy organizing, the children will go to their new playroom and come face to face with a new game they can't resist called Jumping in the Crib.
The crib will break under the weight of three children and you will meet out discipline to the offenders and comfort to a heart-broken toddler who is beyond devastated that his beloved bed is broken.
If the crib is broken, you will decide that Parker can try out his toddler bed today after all! He will settle down and actually take a nap, which you will take as a good sign.
If you take his nap time as a good sign, you will be open to the idea of having him sleep in the children's room that night. You will settle all three children into their beds at a decent hour and tip-toe hopefully out of the room.
Once the children are on their own, you will have a brief and peaceful lull. It will not be long, however, before there are thumps and bumps. The toddler will make trips from his new bed over to the toy room for loot, and back again. The seven-year-old will be out of bed in tears because she can't sleep. The father will be up and down the stairs with sighs of exasperation. The mother will resort to sitting with the toddler so that he stays put. The toddler will not settle.
If the toddler does not settle by midnight, the crib will get fixed.
If the crib gets fixed, the toddler and all his blankets and pillows and stuffed animals will be moved back and peace will be restored. You will decide that a crib works pretty well for a two-year-old for the foreseeable future.
Once you decide to keep the toddler in the nursery a while longer, you will realize that you don't have room for the old bookcase in that room as envisioned. You will proceed to leave it in the living room, so that you now have two bookcases in that room. You will sort and arrange and organize and think about how wonderful it is to have sooooo much room!
Plus some to spare!
If you are the mom who gets a new bookcase, you will look at all that tantalizingly empty shelf space long enough to realize there is only one thing to do.
Buy more books.
(Just so you know.)
In that story, the trouble starts with an innocent little cookie and escalates from there. In the story of my life, the snowball effect started with a simple statement:
"I need a new bookcase."
The need to replace the small existing bookcase in the living room with a larger one became apparent as I was sorting school supplies and eying all the LightUnits, teacher's keys, readers & workbooks that were finding their way into the room in preparation for school. Last year I kept the books that I wasn't using upstairs on another bookcase, but that was rather unhandy and there just wasn't enough room for everything this year! After all, not only were there more books now than ever before, but there were more students!
Thankfully I have a principal who takes the word of his only school-teacher seriously. I said I needed a bigger bookcase one night, and by the next evening we had taken the trailer to Just Cabinets, bought a seven-foot bookcase, brought it home and carried it into the house! Instead of only four shelves, this one had seven, and the potential for what all I could fit on there was incredible.
When Wesley found me sitting in my chair and staring at the bookshelf in a meditative way shortly after we heaved into the house, he knew we were in trouble.
Indeed.
If you give a Mom a bookcase, she's going to look at it sitting exactly where the old one used to be and contemplate moving it.
When you move the bookcase from one side of the room to the other, you will displace the toybox, and this will make you think of your idea to turn Parker's room into a toy room.
If you turn Parker's room into a toy room, you will need to assess Elasa & Gavin's bedroom and think about how you can turn it from a room for two into a room for three.
You will heave a small toddler bed around until you have room for a dresser from the nursery, and once you have room, you will move dresser into bedroom.
Once the dresser is moved, you will return to the nursery and take everything out of the cedar chest so that it can also be moved into a new position in the hall. Once everything is out, you will realize that you never designated a box for Parker's special baby clothes, ect, so you will find a diaper box that fits the bill, stuff it in the chest and proceed to go looking all over the house for other items that should be included in the box, which will lead you to one of your own bureau drawers.
When you open that particular drawer, you will find yourself organizing and browsing, which will mean showing Elasa & Gavin their baby albums, finding a Willow Tree figurine of a mother & child in which the child has been beheaded, giving the children a bag of special cookies that's been hiding there since your anniversary, and discovering a few more "baby keepsakes" that need to be put in a separate shoebox for Parker.
You will claim a shoebox from the attic, move baby keepsakes into it, shut the drawer to avoid further nostalgic deviances and go back to the cedar chest.
Once you go back to organizing the cedar chest, you will realize that the diaper box has displaced quite a few other "treasure." This will be your opportunity to relocate some of this stuff to new locations, including the yard-sale box.
The beheaded Willow Tree figurine will be toted downstairs for repairs, along with a Willow Tree Angel who is holding a candle on which the teeny-tiny wick has fallen off. You will look for super glue, fail to find any, and write it down on your grocery list.
With the dresser and cedar chest out of the nursery, you will proceed with turning it into a play-room. The children will help lug the toy-box (still full of toys) upstairs to it's new location, along with the doll equipment.
Seeing their toys in Parker's room will remind the children that he is soon to relocate to their room. They will beg and plead for this to happen, but first, the dresser that was moved to the children's room for him to use must be emptied.
And if you empty the dresser, which was currently a handy storage unit for your fabric in particular, you will need to find new places to put things.
You will add "tote" to your grocery list.
At the store, glue and a long, low tote will be placed in the cart.
At home, the two Willow Tree figurines will be repaired and finally placed safely in the closet with an air of satisfaction. The tote will be filled with various pieces of fabric, but first you must sort through it and pair down the selection so it all fits in one tote. Once this is accomplished, you will slide the tote under your bed.
If you are busy organizing, the children will go to their new playroom and come face to face with a new game they can't resist called Jumping in the Crib.
The crib will break under the weight of three children and you will meet out discipline to the offenders and comfort to a heart-broken toddler who is beyond devastated that his beloved bed is broken.
If the crib is broken, you will decide that Parker can try out his toddler bed today after all! He will settle down and actually take a nap, which you will take as a good sign.
If you take his nap time as a good sign, you will be open to the idea of having him sleep in the children's room that night. You will settle all three children into their beds at a decent hour and tip-toe hopefully out of the room.
Once the children are on their own, you will have a brief and peaceful lull. It will not be long, however, before there are thumps and bumps. The toddler will make trips from his new bed over to the toy room for loot, and back again. The seven-year-old will be out of bed in tears because she can't sleep. The father will be up and down the stairs with sighs of exasperation. The mother will resort to sitting with the toddler so that he stays put. The toddler will not settle.
If the toddler does not settle by midnight, the crib will get fixed.
If the crib gets fixed, the toddler and all his blankets and pillows and stuffed animals will be moved back and peace will be restored. You will decide that a crib works pretty well for a two-year-old for the foreseeable future.
Once you decide to keep the toddler in the nursery a while longer, you will realize that you don't have room for the old bookcase in that room as envisioned. You will proceed to leave it in the living room, so that you now have two bookcases in that room. You will sort and arrange and organize and think about how wonderful it is to have sooooo much room!
Plus some to spare!
If you are the mom who gets a new bookcase, you will look at all that tantalizingly empty shelf space long enough to realize there is only one thing to do.
Buy more books.
(Just so you know.)
I read and laughed. This is why we get to the end of long days (or weeks) feeling as if we have accomplished much, but not having crossed anything off our lists! (Of course, if you are smart, you will have added the things you did accomplish to your list so that you CAN cross them off!)
ReplyDeleteI love this! I can so relate to projects that just keep growing!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter was cleaning up today and informed me (not that it was news) that we needed more bookshelves because our books are double stacked on several shelves. I told her that maybe it is time to go through some books and get rid of some. But then the mail came, with two new books! And my daughter said that instead of decreasing our books we were adding to them!
And she is right.
Enjoy your empty bookshelves. I predict it won't last long.
Gina