The Great Chair Debacle

“Yah, so I’m torn – I’m reaching out to my Mommy friends to get some of their advice,” I said to the gals at work, their heads nodding in understanding but their eyes lightly glazing over from my latest “debacle.”

To own two rockers, or not own two rockers? That was the question. These are the type of first world issues we have in Johnson County you know…

We landed on saving some dough (you know, since we’re still slightly uncertain how we’re going to do things like keep the house and feed our family with two in daycare) and sticking the rocker in L2’s nursery and starting this weekend with weaning little dude from the confines of his Mom’s arms and the peace and quiet rocking of our souls into the night. To get him excited and comfortable with this plan, we made some slight rearrangements, stuck some toys in his room, placed an activity table in the corner and splurged on some Spiderman sheets. Since then we’ve had marvelous moments in his room, reading for hours under the blankets with a flashlight, launching rockets and cars from the new surfaces and using the twin mattress for extra snuggle time against Mommy’s growing belly. Besides a few 6 a.m. request to “rock” that were quickly satisfied with cuddles among the superheroes, it’s been quite seamless. Except for one thing:

Putting the damn Pottery Barn “Everywhere Chair” together.

An old favorite, we had room for this puppy now that we whisked away the honker of a rocker to another space, so alas, it made for the perfect accessory to place back in his reading corner. After a few eager attempts, I resorted to Google and this little diddy:

And this master’s prepared student had to watch the damn thing at least six times. At one point I considered stuffing a bunch of plush animals in there and calling it a day or just chucking it out the window, then remembered this was not a lesson I would teach my kids.  Of course, neither were the list of swear words that were needlessly pouring out of my mouth, but sometimes a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. That and he loved the darn thing.

It’s erect now. Definitely imperfect, but standing nonetheless. And with all the leaping, driving and wrestling that occurs on it daily, I’m certain it will look just as it should in no time. And before you poke fun, you should know the video has had more than 4k hits, which means there have been other parents out there finding themselves in the battle of the seat stuffing.

Harder than that is working to wrap my brain around splitting time between my soon to be two sons, our drawn out bedtime process though stressful at times, one of the keys to the seemingly unconditional love and bond we share day to day. I keep referring to the classic “Love You Forever” children’s book where the mother rocks her son for what seems like decades, only to find he returns the favor as she enters her old age. Call me when I’m 80 – I’ll totally be this chic. And judge all you want, but these quiet moments are spiritual, the perfect wrap to even the toughest of days when the kind of love you never thought possible marries gentle stillness among white noise and starlight.

It’s magical. So much so I promise it erases any chair debacles that may come your way.

So rock n’ roll, baby. It’s totally worth it.