May 2, 2012

In My Room


My birthday is coming up this week-end and I'm always extra nostalgic when May hits. I never actually felt like an adult until I became a mother and even now it sometimes surprises me that I'm in my thirties and a veritable grown-up.

I've written about my mother's home and how my childhood room is more or less in tact, just the way I left it when I went off to college so many years ago. Some things have been moved around or stored away... but it's pretty close to a time capsule. We've recently started to make some changes so that the room can be a space for Little Smith (Big Smith thinks this is long overdue and doesn't have as much reverence for my collections and childhood decor!). I'm actually taking the changes in stride, I guess I've had more than enough time to prepare for the transition.

A few weeks ago we were at my mom's dog sitting while she visited some friends. It was a gorgeous warm day and the boys were playing with Blue (the dog) out in the yard. I'm still not sleeping well so even with the sunny skies I decided to take some quiet time to myself and attempt a nap. Instead of the guest room where we were staying, I climbed into my old bed in my childhood room. It felt like home; the view of the river in the sunlight, the bed frame that my mother restored and painted with flowers, my books labeled with little stickers by title (because I was that kind of kid), my collections of rubber balls and all things Beatles. This space is slowly transforming and soon it will be filled with new collections and my old ones will find new life with my son. I fell asleep in my old bed and woke up to my favorite guys crashing pots and pans and making supper. Change is good.

9 comments:

  1. Happy early birthday to you. I am also in love with the door in your bedroom, I love it's slightly unconventional shape. My old bedroom at my dad's how has gone virtually unchanged since I left for college, up until this last Christmas when my fiance and I were visiting and decided to get rid of lots of my old things so her could start using it as an actual guest room and not just a room that was collecting dust.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Happy Birthday, Lilly!

    It's fun to see your space from when you were a girl! Funny, my mom changed my room probably two minutes after I left for college, then she ended up moving out to the country and building a new house anyway. But I remember exactly how I had it all through high school. It's amazing what memories come from childhood rooms!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Happy Birthday!

    Your childhood room looks like it was a really happy place to be. Whatever changes you make, leave those Beatles things there! Those dudes are timeless and will always be made of magic.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Happy Birthday!! :D

    I love how your mom has kept your room for all of these years. I still have my old bedroom just how I left it when I moved out. I love going home and going back to "my" place. It is so nice, and makes you feel right at home.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Happy early birthday, Lilly! Your childhood room looks very sweet and peaceful. I can see why you love it. My childhood room is now my father's bedroom so there's absolutely nothing left from my time there (except for a nail polish stain here and there!). It's lovely that you've been able to have this place to go back to all these years and now it can transition into something equally as wonderful for Little Smith. Change is good, indeed.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Change is good but it can save some of your memories too. Happy early Birthday!

    ReplyDelete
  7. first off, happy birthday!
    Second, what a serene setting. I love this room, and this post. I am a true sentimentalist, so I adore these kinds of things. Very cool. And you're right, change is good.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Happy birthday! I just had a short trip home, and it's always nostalgic staying at my parent's house. Your old bedroom is great!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I guess there's not a better place to take a much needed nap then in your childhood bed. How cool that your room is still intact. My parents have moved a couple of times since I left so I don't have my old room to visit. If I did though it would be covered in Johnny Depp and the Smiths posters. ;)

    xo
    cortnie

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.