A few days ago, Courtney, the owner of our "old" house was humorously complaining that she'd like to annex the toy room from their house. I explained in my wise, elderly "been there, done that" voice that soon enough her girls would be gone and she'd miss the mess...literally! It's in the back of the house and no one has to walk through that room to access any other...the perfect spot for a mess.
As I was lying in bed later that night, I remembered that room vividly as it had been a part of me for over a half century. It was originally my Grandma and Grandpa's house and as a child, I had spent every holiday and countless overnights in that house and particularly that room..the den! It held the most uncomfortable furniture, a maple couch and chair with wooden arms and cushions that were surely stuffed with rocks covered in cow hide covered in pink magnolias. There was always a small glass candy dish that held round, checker sized circles made surely of Pepto-bismol. They said mint, I said chalk....but for some reason, I always grabbed one?? I spent a lot of time in this room as it was the "thinking room!" I was often banished there for saying, outloud, what all the adults were thinking! We weren't the closest bunch:-/ All the games were stored in the beautiful lead glass covered cupboards. I was usually the one who got to choose the game...I was the baby! Our choices were Button Button who's got the Button, Chinese checkers or Bingo (in the red box with the wooden, lettered pieces.) Many memories were formed in that the den.
Many years later when it was our house, that was my den! It was where my desk was, my chair was, my TV was and later my computer was......it was also, the Toy Room. We all managed to cohabitate there quite well. They were leaner days so a toy box usually sufficed to hold the toys and the closet had room for the overflow of books and games. I do remember a tall, colorfully spotted giraffe that didn't fit anywhere but was one of Jeff's favorites. The den made the transformation from trucks and cars and Dukes of Hazzard "tigars" (guitars) to My Little Pony and Rainbow Brite in a mildly, confrontational fashion. After all, it was still Mom's den and the floor needed to be free of jacks, Legos and Barbie shoes.
Soon the kids migrated to their own rooms and once again I reclaimed my territory. My new obsession was scrap booking and this room was the perfect place to leave my mess out and work at my leisure. Wow, the memories that room alone provided would keep me "scrapping" for years. I could merely close the door and no one was the wiser that it wasn't as impeccably arranged as it had been for the prior 4 decades.....yeah right! The lace curtain on the door did it's job!
Next, along came the granddaughter! Once again the toy box was filled, the oriental rug was changed out for one with pink ponies and purple flowers. My scrapbook closet now resembled a scene from E.T.. I was relatively sure I would open it one day and something alive would be living in the center of the stuffed everything pile. My chair was now more a rocker than a recliner and the ambiance turned from crafty to cozy. It was one again the Thinking Room but more for memories than for reflection of imperfect deeds and words. The 5th generation was comfortably enjoying this room... My favorite, regardless of whether it held toys, tots or thinkers. If only those walls could talk, the stories they would tell♥
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