Don’t tell Daddy!
Posted by Isabel on May 11th, 2007. Filed under: Back in the Day, My Sweet Babboo.This week was Sweet Babboo’s latest doctor’s appointment. While we were there the doctor suggested we don’t put a lot of restrictions on Babboo’s lifestyle. He suggested we don’t say “no” to him and to have as few rules as possible.
Dude, it’s good to be a one year old. Rules suck.
I feel like I spend the better part of my evenings saying things like; that’s not for Babboo. That’s for mommy. And the every popular; No, don’t touch that!! As it stands, I say “no” a lot. Our little guy has lots of rules.
My mom and dad have this old couch and chair set. It’s been in our house as long as I can remember. I’m not exactly sure where they got it. If memory serves me right they bought it used from my dad’s sister. Or maybe it came with one of their first houses. It doesn’t really matter where it came from. It just matters that you know they’ve owned it more then 30 years. And it was used then.
I remember the feel of the fabric on my little fingers. It was textured and would make a noise when I would scratch it with my fingernail. It was a muted green color, but you could tell it wasn’t always so muted. The fabric had a darker green edging that fastened to the wood frame with brass grommets.
I loved how it felt to touch and was very confused when my mom would tell me how horrible the couch and chair were. How could she say that? I thought it was glorious.
Like most kids, we weren’t allowed to jump on the furniture, or eat on the furniture, or play on the furniture. That all changed the day my mom decided she wanted to recover the couch and chair. In order to get what she wanted, she knew she would have to convince my dad that it was the way to go. Unfortunately this old green fabric was in pretty decent shape.
The rules suddenly changed at the hola, isabel house.
Gone was the “no jumping on the couch” rule. Now we were encouraged to jump on the couch. My older brother and I would squeeze together on the chair and jump together as high as we could. We would try to not fall off and not bang our heads together.
Of course we were only allowed to do this when Dad wasn’t at home. As soon as we heard the car pull up in the drive-way, we had to sit back down and pretend we were never jumping on the furniture. Not only was it fun to jump, it was fun to feel like we were pulling the wool over poor old dad’s eyes.
Eventually the fabric began to tear at the edges. My Dad conceded that the couch and chair were worth saving and that they needed to be recovered. They searched around for a refinisher that would do the job they wanted. My Mom picked out a very luxurious fabric to fully accentuate the wood frame.
When they took the furniture set in the furniture maker (so they have official titles?) informed them that the couch was made around 1890 and the wood was all hand carved. In fact, some of the wood used comes from a tree that is now extinct.
It was 1978 when they had them recovered. I’m pretty sure that while no kids have since jumped on them, the new(er) fabric is faded and a little worn. Time does that. The sun does that. The fact that they actually use their furniture does that.
When I look at the chair, I can still remember jumping on it with my brother. I remember the edges being so high that I felt like I was safe inside and couldn’t fall off.
I also remember the feeling of not having to follow the rules. I need to remember that feeling next time I’m tempted to tell Babboo “No!”.
May 11th, 2007 at 5:44 pm
That is an awesome picture. I love his hair!
We were NEVER allowed to jump on the furniture. And when my parents bought their first new couch in the late nineties, we were discouraged from even falling asleep on it, because we’d ruin the cushions. In our house, things had to last as long as possible.
May 11th, 2007 at 6:06 pm
That spaghetti picture is absolutely priceless! Love it!
May 11th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
That chair looks like it belongs in Queen Elizabeth’s living room! It’s gorgeous!
Kids are so good at destroying furniture. When I was about 6, I remember carving my name in the wood frame of my bed… with my teeth. As soon as I finished, I got that “oh shit” feeling and knew I was going to be in huge trouble. So I scribbled on some paper and taped them to the bed frame for “decoration”. Yeah, my mom didn’t see through that.
The worst part was I spelled my name wrong.
May 11th, 2007 at 6:31 pm
I totally remember the first set of couches we had. We got them used when someone moved, and I think they were 40 years old when they made their way into our living room. But I thought they were gorgeous. The fabric was soft and silky and a beautiful gray. We had those couches for 20 years, and now they sit in my brother’s basement – with a slipcover over the horrible, matted, dirty-tan fabric. Funny how things change as you grow up, and they get older.
May 11th, 2007 at 7:44 pm
It isn’t the furniture that i remember (not that I would ever forget that rocking 1970’s orange sofa) but I can remember running full force like I was one of those gymnasts on the buck (is that what it is called) and I would fly up in the air. Probably only like 2 feet but it felt really high when I was a kid.
Now that I think about this, I am so going home and trying this again. I’ll probably fall flat on my ass.
But I do remember also writing on the wall with chapstick. Let me tell you that even now like 20 years later, many coats of paint later, there is still a greasy heart with a wiggly balloon string like line out of it. So, word to the wise, make sure ol sweet Babboo doesn’t get the bright idea of using chapstick on the walls.
May 11th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
I don’t know if you noticed, but Babboo has something on his face.
(is this what I have to look forward to??)
May 11th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
Your son is the cutest little baby boy ever!!!
May 11th, 2007 at 9:47 pm
Our family is bad with couches. Maybe it’s because we slept on them, and plopped down hard on them. Speaking of which, my mom needs new couches BAD.
Aww, Babboo looks so cute!!! Not telling your kid, “no” os so hard. But what I’ve learned works even better, is giving them choices. I give Zachary choices. So instead of telling him, “No, you can’t have candy for breakfast,” I say, “You can have cereal OR pancakes, which do you want?” Then he has a choice. It works awesome.
P.S.
Happy Mother’s Day and Birthday!
May 11th, 2007 at 10:42 pm
I completely ADORE that kid. That picture is all kinds of awesome.
May 11th, 2007 at 10:45 pm
This was an amazing post.
I know I say this all of the time, but can’t help it, BABOO is SO BEAUTIFUL! Gosh, he’s getting big.
May 12th, 2007 at 12:28 am
Yeah, you can’t say no to that little spaghetti face!
May 12th, 2007 at 2:25 am
We (being my siblings and I) invented a game called Putty. We could only play this when I was babysitting because it was totally forbidden by my parents. The house had to be dark, the only lights on were in the living room. Everyone had their base (a piece of furniture) in the living room. One person, the Putty, would hide in the dark house and the rest of us would go search for him/her. The game was super scary. The Putty had to make a warning sound (like the bad guys from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers – thus the name Putty) before s/he attacked. We had to race back to our home bases. At very high speed.
Let’s just say we once put a hole in the wall during a game of Putty. Which we managed to completely patch before my parents returned home. They didn’t find out about it until we told them years later.
Man, did I love playing Putty.
Btw, that’s a gorgeous set. And an adorable Babboo!
May 12th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
Wow, I love that couch and chair. Totally gorgeous. And that boy! My goodness, what a face.
May 12th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
… you’ve got a weird doctor. LOL.
May 13th, 2007 at 3:15 pm
Awesome post, sweetie.
Love Babboo, as always.
May 14th, 2007 at 9:54 am
man…. imagine if that couch broke when you were jumping on it.
And how brilliant to be able to do it with your Mum’s permission.
May 14th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
You come up with the most randomly interesting topics, Isabel. I love the classic “kid with crap all over his face” shot. Priceless.
May 14th, 2007 at 2:51 pm
Just wait until HE learns to say no. Boy is that fun.
May 14th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
oh the days of no rules. sigh. to be a kid again!
May 14th, 2007 at 4:15 pm
The couch and chair look super comfy! Babboo makes me want to eat some spaghetti!!!
I say no alot too, but not as much as Daddy does.