Room change

There was a brief flashback: First I remembered the satisfaction Kim and I felt when we completed the room’s transition from guest room to girl’s room. The Pooh and Monsters Inc. prints, the toys, the hanging (fake) lanterns, the lotus flowers, the bookshelves (already loaded with children’s books) and, of course, the safety covers over electrical outlets. And then I remembered how long that room sat empty, waiting for its resident to fly from overseas, and come home. I remembered how it felt to walk past that silent room, every day, looking in at the too-neatly-arranged toys and made up bed. That was a very, very long nine months (a so-called paper pregnancy).

 

And then, the flashback blurred away to its rightful place in the past.

 

There was Jade, standing in that same room, brewing up some tea in her Olivia tea set. “Want to have a tea party with me?” she asks. How could I (or anyone) resist. She insists — for safety, I’m guessing — that I hold my tea cup to steady it while she pours. I nearly made the mistake of taking a drink, when I got a mild scolding: “You must be patient.” Being kindhearted, and not wanting to be too hard on me, she adds, “I understand sometimes it’s hard to be patient. But don’t worry; I’ll help you.”

 

She then grabs a toy cupcake, which she explains is the cream, and shakes/pours some out over the teacups. Then an old Olay moisturizing cream jar — now equipped with a penny inside to give a decent rattling sound — serves as the sugar container. More shaking/pouring of the sweetener in the cups. Now we’re ready to drink our tea.

 

This is what this room was made for.

 

New toys are sure to pop up in her room next week when she turns 4. And in another year, her birthday celebration will take on an extra special dimension, as it will mark the day Jade has been with us longer than she has been anywhere else. I look forward to watching how she continues to make that room, and our home, the place it was always meant to be.

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