Regime Change

Things come and go in seasons and waves and phases.  Lately, it seems that all the waves have been crashing together.  I want to say, "Take me back to September!"  I say September because that was the start of the school year when everything seemed so clear and the routines were so fresh and new and easy.  Following set rhythms isn't always easy.  There are always distractions that pop up along the way.

The distractions, as of late, seem to be far too many.  The days have felt like there are too many errands, too much stuff, and too much dirt.  Is that just Spring?  So much to do and so little time?  We don't do much, in terms of things away from home, but there's enough here to keep a person busy in perpetuity.  That's just life, right?  I've felt like all I do is move the things in this house around and that they are seldom in the proper place, or where I last left them.  Time to change.

The children's room has been a place of weariness for me for awhile.  Bunkbeds were a choice I didn't really like making, honestly.  I don't guess anyone does, but they save space and that is something we need to save around here.  Choosing to move isn't in the cards for us.  We've planted fruit trees, after all. ;-)  The idea of a trundle bunk seemed perfect--stash it all away in the footprint of a single twin bed.  Over time, however, the idea became grinding, literally.

After watching the scratches on my floors get worse with each passing day (from the trundle bed), and after things just seemed too much, I made whimsical/long-considered decision to jump in the car and drive to Ikea for a different solution.  I'd purchased a toddler bed from Voldemart for the playhouse and this was the push I needed to really shake things up.

I recall from my Joyful Toddlers! class that Faith's mother, the famed Rahima Baldwin Dancy, would make occasional shifts when things got too much.  She called it a "regime change," and I've kept that in mind ever since.  I certainly needed one.  This place and that monstrosity of a bed were suffocating me.  So, a Kura bed and a toddler bed and now, ahhhhh.  I can breathe and there is light.

It was a long day, driving six hours total to Charlotte and back, which seems like worlds away.  This place where I live, it is a place out of time, so trips to cities seem so foreign.  They may as well be the Jetsons while we are the Beverly Hillbillies.  Nonetheless, my children got to experience elderflower punch and Swedish meatballs not made by me and we got a bed.  And some tiny lights.

It was a big job, disassembling The Monstrosity.  And it was a big job putting together the Ikea bed, in all its utilitarian glory.  The directions were well-written, and the children were a wonderful help.  They helped brace and carry and track down missing screws.  We suffered only minor injuries and very little discord.  Perhaps we'd had enough of that already?

Of course, while I was still getting it all sorted out yesterday, family had to come over and look at my mess.  I'm sure they thought the whole thing was crazy and I told them I had plenty of rational reasons, though I am allowed to not make sense now and then.  It all makes sense to me, anyhow.  The children can make their own beds now.  The whole thing is not looming so high in the air (it comes chest high on 5'3" me).  There are no more wheels grinding across my floor.

I was alone yesterday afternoon while I did some tidying to the house.  It really was out of sorts in a big way.  I put some final touches on the room and put up the canopy for Roan.  He really loves it and I think this is a good use for it.  I really hope that the improved space will inspire more reverence in our sleep routines and self care.  I'm also hoping that our routines will be renewed, in general.  I'm in charge of that, of course, and I think we'll all be nourished if I can pull it off.
The porch is covered with the remains of the old beds, but I'll deal with those today.  There's still the tiny hutch to put on the back porch.  I put away a lot of things while they were gone and I think I got rid of some of my negative energy.  I told myself that its okay to move out perfectly nice furniture in place of something that works better.  First world problems, I guess.  I slept better last night and my back didn't hurt (perhaps I wore it out!)  I went to sleep in my own bed for the first time in years!