Every night when I peek into my son’s room, I see the puppy lamp. I swear it makes me smile almost as much as the sight of my little boy all sprawled out who knows where/how/why (on the floor? the armchair? horizontal or feet-first on the bed? next to a tower of picture books or a row of perfectly lined up toy airplanes?).
We’ve had the puppy lamp since way before Jo was born. Somewhere in the first trimester, my husband got into the Pottery Barn Kids catalog and next thing you know, the nursery was pretty much finished. He bought the lamp, an ABC rug, and stencils to paint the alphabet on the walls. Once you have the rug and the wall decor, there’s not a lot of decorating left to do, you know?
I appreciated the enthusiasm, I really did, but apparently he’d never heard that mothers usually like to at least help pick out this stuff. Still, I liked it and I liked how the room turned out, with blue walls that we decided were suitable for a boy or a girl, and the alphabet letters in a border near the ceiling. They were all white, except for the ones in the boy and girl names we’d picked out (word nerds!). A friend came to stay with us at one point while the room was half guest room and half nursery; he spent half the night racking his brain to figure out the names (he eventually did it).
When we left our apartment in New Jersey, we said goodbye to the painted letters. When Jo turned 7 we finally got her a big-girl rug–no more pastel ABCs. But when we upgraded Opie’s room from baby to boy two years ago, the lamp stayed. In the past several weeks I’ve given away most of my maternity clothes and a substantial chunk of our newborn boy clothing stash, without (too many) tears. But I’m going to miss that lamp.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh, never get rid of that lamp. It’s adorable.
I love imaging Opie sprawled all over the room.
I never quite finished the nursery decorating, so I guess we’re already kind of moving towards the big boy look . . . ?
I would probably keep it for my own room, but I’m weird that way. I’ve found it’s easier to part with baby stuff when you give it to a friend. Then you feel it’s in a good home and they can get rid of it with little sentiment.
Keep it. I have both of the outfits that Maggie & Will came home in.
Maggie (7) still uses a night light.
It is weird what we get attached to. I can see having feelings for that lamp, along with the other feelings hinted at in your post.
We bought one of those lights which has a screen and which turns. It is an ocean theme, displaying on the walls dolphins and mermaids and such. We bought it about 13 years ago, when my Eldest was 6 months old. His sister, who is nearing 12, used it each night until about a year ago. Her younger brother, now 8, inherited it. When he is finally done with it in a couple of years, it will still burn each night. In my room.