Monday, May 4, 2009

The nursery room...

So I've been thinking about the nursery for a while and I realized I don't want our nursery to look like something out of a magazine or a showroom. Now that may sound selfish to some, but really the nursery is for the comfort of the parents with of course accommodations for the babies. -But by and large, it is going to be for those long nights of crying babies and the big potato is gonna want some comfort! :) That is not to say that the changing table is going to double as a sports bar and the "painting" on the wall doubles as a flat screen TV, or that the ceiling fan will be used for jerry-springer-like acrobatics and wild moments around a pole. -Hmm...now that I put it that way...but NO, no I won't do that!

As I'd thought about a theme, which apparently is still all the rage, I decided to go against the grain; no strawberry shortcake, no flying barnyard animals and over sized butterflies, no ginormous rats or cats with striped hats, no such thing at all will be put upon the wall (catch the Dr. Seuss'ish way I said that?). I've looked and looked and looked at countless manifestations of nursery propaganda and it was all too commercial for me. I wanted something that said unique, fun, meaningful, but most of all that the children would be surrounded by family. Yes, you guessed it, the theme of the nursery will be "family".

Now you might be wondering to yourself how on earth will farting Uncle Clarence and belching Bertha contribute to a "good night's sleep" for the babies?! From afar! I've asked several family members to contribute stories of their upbringing to be shared with our children. Now nothing that will contribute to the delinquency of our sweet lil babies, but some stories that might be filled with more moral fiber than wretched abandon! When all those stories are received, I will sit down and create a children's book of these stories and the other potato will help me in making the book(s) bilingual, adding and subtracting as necessary to make the story fit for a child without taking away from the actual story itself. I will also add drawings and pictures as necessary to help in creating the depth of each story. Other ways that I've asked them to contribute is by giving me titles of their favorite childhood books, so that we may place them in the nursery and read them to our children. Even further contribution will be done by placing a genealogy tree in their room, with pictures and names and dates of course. I've also had an idea of advice that my relatives have or were told to them as they grew up, that we might be able to put up in their room on the walls in fun colored frames or painted on the walls in certain areas. -Nothing that will put them into therapy of course, but wholesome, honest one-liner advice from family. Lastly donations from our family to the room, such as a baby blanket that was handed down from a relative (which a special someone is already doing...thank you Gabby!) or other family-hand-me-downs that we would be able to put in the room. I will also be designing and sewing curtains for the room as well as minimally painting their room. This is not to say that cuddly teddy bears and toys won't be in there as well. I want our children to know their roots. With stories from both potatoes family members it will allow the children to get to know family members that have passed on or are simply too far away. I want to make their room special with family influence, but it will also have accents of colors and fun things that will enable the room to easily transition to adolescence and beyond. -Besides, who wants a strawberry-shortcake themed room when they turn 16? (Sorry potato #1!)

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