Wednesday, January 16, 2013

The Nursery

Before writing about the actual point of this post, I thought I'd share the first comment I've gotten so far in this pregnancy that had me scoffing a bit in frustration. Saw a gal from church at a gathering last night, and she greeted me with, "That baby's getting big." Then she just walked away.

Scoff of indignation. 

I wanted to tell her that, actually, I managed not to gain a. single. ounce. over the holidays. Four weeks in the South, for goodness' sake, and didn't gain an ounce. I also wanted to let her know she was being that typical person that pregnant women mock for being insensitive (you know...kind of like me right at this moment. She should maybe read this for some tips.). I didn't say anything, though. Partly because she walked away and partly because I couldn't think fast enough. And, partly because I didn't want to be rude. Golly. On second thought, a sassy comeback in Boston isn't really considered rude like it would be in the South. I have to keep reminding myself that this is a much more assertive culture; I should let things roll off more easily. But, my emotions are all over the place, so that's not so easy to remember all the time. 

Anyway.

We've gotten quite a lot of questions about Claire's nursery. Things like "what colors/theme are you using?" and "have you finished it yet?" We always feel a little bit awkward answering that line of questioning, because the truth is that she doesn't exactly get a nursery.

That sounds bad, doesn't it?

What that means is that our apartment (while spacious and awesome for Boston) doesn't lend itself to having an actual nursery like most set-ups in non-city dwellings. We have a room that will serve as part office/study area, guest room, extra storage, and baby area. We're getting creative and crafty in making that space as functional as we can, but we can't really turn it entirely into a nursery.

The good news is that she won't care or remember it.

We're going to be getting her a mini-crib (because a full-size crib won't actually fit in "her" room) that is on wheels, so that it can be moved from room to room as needed. Brad likes to say that the whole apartment will be her nursery. So cute, he is. We have been decluttering, shifting, and rearranging things (like out-of-season clothing, Christmas decorations, boxes of miscellany) in order to begin organizing her stuff into what we hope will be a functional setup for everyone. We are planning to put up some "art" and to make the room baby-like, to the best of our ability. However, don't plan on seeing lots of adorable pictures of her "nursery." We wish we could do more Pinterest-y cute things, but on top of the space and multi-purposeness of the room, it's the room in our apartment that used to be a recording studio. This means that we're working with a lot of fixtures and elements that we can't really change, move, or alter. Perhaps we could do more to cover things up or camouflage, but because the area is so...compact?...we want to be careful not to clutter it up too much either.

Do have I have you sufficiently confused? Sorry about that. I'm actually going to go back there and sort through some boxes while you attempt to figure out the babble I just wrote. :)

2 comments:

M & M said...

I always hated the question about the nursery because we had to live with the room and I really did not want to decorate a "baby" room that a 2 year old would outgrow in a short time etc... Our nurseries have doubled as guest rooms too. Who wants baby stuff everywhere. The latest room has a crib plopped in amongst the double bed, a sewing table, an adult bookcase etc.... Nothing baby about it at all. Not even a changing table! (in the other room) Dont let anyone guilt you into having to have a cute nursery. How much time will you really spend in there? And the kid will not know at all! David slept in a laundry basket for several months because it was easily portable and shut in the closet so we could not hear the wailing (even though he had a perfectly good room).

Karen Tidwell said...

You are right--Claire won't remember her nursery. She will know you loved her like crazy and did everything possible to bring her up in a happy home. And, I still look for your blog every day. Love you so much,
Karen Tidwell

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