Four Screws

I didn't think I'd cry.

When Deb suggested that we drag the full-sized bed out of the basement for Allie I didn't realize the impact it would have on both of us. After all, this was something we'd been planning to do for sometime but we've never really had the time or energy for the project. Yesterday, Deb decided we did.

I got the mattress and box spring out of the basement and released them from the plastic we used to try and protect them for the past six years. Six years. That's how long it's been since we converted the guest room into a nursery.

The plastic didn't do as good a job of protecting the bedding as we had hoped. The mattress and box spring smelled. Nothing overwhelming; just that subtle mildew aroma that reminds you of dank places where air settles and rarely moves.

I put the mattresses in the driveway hoping the breeze and bright sunshine would banish the smell. That and a little help from some antimicrobial Febreeze.

While the bedding waited outside, Deb and I went back and forth between keeping it and buying new stuff. Then we started cleaning and moving furniture. The plan was to give Julia Allie's old bed. This meant the crib had to go.

Deb had been crying off and on the entire morning. In fact, she started the moment she made the suggestion. We had decided it was time to shed every significant remnant of the girls' infancies. First it was the bouncy seat, then the high chair, now the crib. The crib had converted to a toddler bed, but it was still recognizable. A reminder of the place we deemed safe enough to protect our sleeping babies for the past six years.

I took an Allen wrench to four screws and the crib came apart.

Now, in it's place, there is the bed Julia will more than likely sleep in until she decides it's time for her to leave our home. This same situation can now be found in Allie's room. I think the bed still stinks, but not enough for most sane people to notice. So now Allie has a big bed with a pretty brass headboard that she'll probably sleep in on a regular basis for the next twelve years or so.

Deb and I (Deb, for the most part) were a little weepy. But I reminded my wife that the crib will always be close by. Who knows, maybe years from now we'll need it again for another baby. One who we'll love and dote on but can send home when he/she becomes cranky, stinky and loud.

By the way, we also got rid of the diaper genie yesterday. Nobody cried about that.