Painting Traditions

After a lot of fretting and more nagging than I care to admit, the baby's room is being finished today. I felt a rush of relief when I realized that we can finally set up the crib. With the way this pregnancy has been going, I worried that the baby would be here before he or she had a place to sleep!

Although I would like to take credit for the room, the majority of the credit goes to my Mom. She drove down here several times (not an easy feat considering that it is nearly 5 hours round trip) to prep and paint the room. Between the weather, my health and the condition of the room, painting was certainly a Herculean effort. 

Despite the time and aggravation involved, I also knew that I wouldn't be able to dissuade my Mom from her appointed task. Prepping and painting each grandchild's bedroom has become her tradition. For reasons which I don't understand but have come to fully appreciate, she enjoys painting, especially when the job is being completed for a grandchild.

In addition to painting, my Mom unintentionally abides by another tradition. She spills paint. I'm not talking a drop or two; she habitually manages to splatter copious amounts of paint. She began this tradition when painting Robby's room (before he was born.) Scott and I came home from our birthing class to be greeted by a neon green glow emanating from under the nursery room door. While we were gone, she thoroughly coated the walls in Shrek green paint but had also managed to tip a quart of the neon hue on the corner of the beige carpet. We toyed with the idea of getting new carpet before we realized that the "memory" could be covered with a couch. 

This time she had a little helper in Robby, who undoubtedly contributed to the mishap.  I wasn't in the room, but I certainly heard the reaction from my Mom. When I entered the room, I saw an entire gallon of white paint, dumped upside down.  I knew that we didn't have enough towels to clean this spill! As luck would have it, the carpet had already been deemed beyond salvage and replacement flooring had already been selected. (Scott utilizing the space as his "man cave" for 9 years certainly took a toll on the carpet and walls!)

Spills aside, I am so thankful for the help that she has provided in prepping the nursery. Just knowing that we will be able to set up the crib tonight has been a huge sense of relief. Although I would prefer this little one stay inside and bake a little longer, at least I know that we will finally be ready.