Home Ownership Rocks/Sucks » Stop, Drop and Blog

LEGO Switchplates Brighten Up the Boys’ Rooms

Home Ownership Rocks/Sucks 4 Responses »

Apr 122012

Buying a new house is awesome because you get a whole clean slate to decorate. You know, put all those HGTV things to work that you sat and watched idly over the past six years.

Putting the boys’ rooms together has been a highlight of the new house. Their spaces are so much bigger. BigBrother had a half-way finished decor redo for his sixth birthday, but I had never repainted because, well, we were looking for a new house. I didn’t want to paint twice! It has been a joy seeing their new rooms come together with all of the things I have wanted to do for so long.

Well, it turns out that I didn’t know I wanted to do something until Dee recently sent me to Etsy. So, this is all her fault.

She sent me to a LEGO Firefighter Switchplate. I died. Put it in my cart immediately. Purchased it. Then pinned it so no one else could buy it first. Contacted the shop owner, named Val, and said that I needed a pirate boy (she has a girl listed) as BigBrother’s new decor is all about pirates, arrrr! Val is super fast and both arrived today.

Oh my word, they’re perfect.

First and foremost, my sons think that LEGOs are the be all and end all right now. Secondly, holy moly. Thirdly, don’t we think this smug firefighter looks a little like FireDad if he was allowed to have that much facial hair?

Lastly, how perfect? How stinkin’ perfect?

I will say that LittleBrother’s firefighter LEGO switchplate is a little more difficult to turn off because of the yellow ledge directly above the switch. It’s fine to turn on, though you usually whack the one guy’s hose (…). BigBrother’s pirate LEGO switchplate isn’t difficult at all. It’s perfect.

The boys are, understandably, enthralled. I told LittleBrother there was a surprise in his room, but that he needed to turn his light off. He turned to turn it off and his face just lit up so bright, so big, before he exclaimed, “MOMMY! That’s AWESOME! Did you do that?” BigBrother was equally amazed when he got home from school. They stood around and looked at them for a good ten minutes.

Mommy decorating win.

I really kind of want one for our room… like the C3PO & R2D2 … but I’ll hold off until the boys out grow theirs and then I’ll put one in our room and one in our bathroom. Total win.

I’ll be slowly sharing more of what the boys’ rooms look like in the new house over the next few weeks. I have a few project left (spray painting old letters new colors, new picture frames, and so on). Until then you should follow Val on twitter (@valglaser) or like her Facebook page. Most of all, go check out her Etsy store. She does have another firefighter switchplate in stock which is also awesome. That’s one of the best things — each product is unique!

I have two very happy boys right now which makes me a very happy mommy. Hooray for the little things in life — little this time meaning LEGOs that are glued to something and thus can’t be stepped on in the middle of the night. Hooray!

Home Is Where Your Heart Is, Even When You Can’t Find the Microwave

Home Ownership Rocks/Sucks, Parenting 4 Responses »

Apr 032012

At least once a day, LittleBrother tells me, “I love our new house.”

That’s good, because we live there whether he loves it or not.

I had been worried about the boys’ transition to the new house. In the weeks preceding our move, they asked lots of questions. Like, “Are we going to take our toys?” And, “What about our beds?” And one that LittleBrother kept harping on, “Mommy, please don’t forget my toothbrush, okay?” It’s hard to explain that, yes, you’re going to move everything to the new house. BigBrother didn’t remember the last move; he was three months old and had a crib, a bouncy seat and some basic toys. Since then, he collected a bit more stuff… to put it mildly.

Thankfully they really do love the new house. They have more space in absolutely every place they could have more space. More bedroom space. A longer hallway to run up and down in their underwear, yelling, “Tra-la-LAA!,” thus channeling Captain Underpants. A much, much bigger playroom. Bigger rooms that they don’t care about (read: kitchen, dining room, and so on). A big front yard and a huge back yard! Even their closets are bigger and I have found them, on more than one occasion, huddled in a closet, playing and giggling. The transition hasn’t been much of a transition for them at all.

Maybe it’s because they’re kids and they adjust to change easier than adults do — or, uh, easier than I do. Because why can’t I remember where the cups and glasses are? Or the microwave — it’s not like the microwave is hard to see. There it is! See it! It is not over there! Why do you walk over there? I don’t know. The kitchens aren’t even remotely shaped the same, so why do I wander around aimlessly opening cupboard doors? Also, I keep reaching to the right for the toilet paper; it is not there. It is on the left. In fact, it was on the left at the old house, too. What is my problem?

But maybe it’s also because of their outlook on life.

We were heading home today after running a few errands.

“Home, home, home we go,” I chanted from the driver seat. Mostly I was trying to keep LittleBrother awake as he looked particularly dozy. As a rule, if he falls asleep in the car, he will be a bear for the rest of the day. We try to avoid this at all costs.

There was a pause. I was afraid he had fallen asleep.

“Home is where your heart is,” came his little voice from the back seat. I was kind of taken aback.

“What?”

“Home. is. where. your. heart. is,” he slow-spoke in a louder voice than before, just in case I was either losing my hearing or just not very smart. I craned my neck at the stop sign to see him in the back seat.

“Well, that’s true. Very true. So is our new house a home?”

“Yes, Mommy. You’re silly.”

And there you have it.

Maybe he didn’t have a transition or adjustment period because it wasn’t about the house or the space or finding the freaking microwave or the bathroom in the dark (though that was an interesting first night which caused us to purchase a night light for the hall the next day). Our home traveled with us from one house to another. The heart of our family didn’t change, just the place where we live.

My four-year-old is wiser than I am — and I’m okay with that.

I just hope to stop wandering around the kitchen sometime soon. You know, before I rearrange it and cause further confusion and delay. That’s just how I roll.

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