April 18, 2012

The "nursery"

We live in a one-bedroom condo. And we're having a baby. Soon. Like in 6 weeks. And no, we're not moving. It's a fair question, I guess, considering that these days almost no families of three live in a one-bedroom condo. None of the families we run with, at least.

Putting our place on the market and moving just seemed like too much to add to our already busy spring/summer schedule: Dave graduating from law school on May 20, the baby coming June 8 (or somewhere abouts), Dave taking the bar July 24-25 and then both of us having sleep-deprived nervous breakdowns sometime in mid-August.

Plus, I love our neighborhood. A great park, the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, Lincoln Park Zoo and the lakefront are all within walking-with-a-stroller distance. And babies are small. Of course their blankets, boppies, bumbas and binkies take up lots of room but do we Americans really need all the space we think we do? Dave was telling me the other day that in 1950, the average American starter home was less than 1,000 square feet. By 2000, it was 2,000 square feet. Two words: suburban sprawl.

We didn't all drive SUVs back then either, although my mom had a sweet, baby blue Buick station wagon by the time I was in kindergarten (1977). Now that was quite a ride. That lean, mean, wood-paneled machine was so big and heavy that one of my greatest childhood fears was losing a limb, or at the least a finger, in one of its monster doors.

The super-size-me phenomenon is one that's been seducing us for awhile. With everyone living in such big houses and driving such big cars, it's no wonder we all think the safest thing to do the second the baby hits the hospital is to run out and buy a minivan. Dave and I are still waiting for our 1996 Honda Accord to die so we can justify buying a new car. With 210,000 miles on the speedometer, it's still going strong.

The "nursery"
So given our 800-foot-square space, our nursery is more like a "baby nook" or "baby alcove" if you're feeling generous. We put a crib next to my side of the bed, hung some pictures of animal mamas and their babies and called it a day. Phew, I'm exhausted. Okay, Dave is exhausted. He's the one who put the crib together and did all the measuring and leveling to make sure the giraffes were even with the monkeys and the elephants.

Framed animals + Dave's stuffed produce friends
Side note: for some reason I've been really into animals this pregnancy. Who knew my inner "Out of Africa" would surface, along with all the progesterone and relaxin?

Don't get me wrong, I've had to resist my own American consumerism during this pregnancy. A few months ago, I was convinced I had to have a certain $1,000 crib from Room and Board. Dave thought spending that much money on a crib was outrageous. Most men (and a few women) would probably agree with him. But this crib is amazingultra modern and super adorable. Well worth the money, let me tell you. And if Dave really loved the baby, he would think so, too. Okay, so these days I get a little hysterical.

In the end, we compromised. I agreed that spending that much money on a crib we would only use for a couple years, maybe a couple more if/when we have a second kid, was a little much. So off we went to Ikea, where we found a safe, functional, semi-cute crib for $120. But I'm still holding out for a $1000 dresser from Room and Board. That I can justify by saying the kid has to use it until s/he leaves for college. And by then, we should be living in a two-bedroom condo.

3 comments:

  1. love the veggies! We lived in a one bedroom apartment until Isa was 6 months old. then we lived in a 2 bedroom with jason's sister. Isa actually lived in the living room. We decided along the way that we either had to sacrifice our room or the living room. She makes lots of noise when she sleeps (not crying, doesn't need anything), but wakes us up nonetheless, so we opted for the living room. She slept there for a year. Seemed to do just fine! LOVE the stuffed veggies in the bed ;)

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  2. The baby's alcove is great. I love the way you baby-ed it up with the three

    Our twins lived in the living room until they were eight months old (although the first 3 months didn't really count.) In the same IKEA crib, no less. Then we duct-taped two IKEA cribs together without the walls in the middle and made a double crib that the whole family can fit in! I don't sleep in there anymore, (because wagner likes to sit on my head) but I did for a while during those late night "just-go-to-sleeps."

    And I had another friend whose kid had his IKEA bed in the closet (it was a wide linen closet in the hall) and slept there until he was 4!

    Space is overrated, anyway.

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  3. It's funny how so much stuff aimed at children has an African safari theme. I might suggest its your inner Lion King rather than your inner Out of Africa that's coming out. But quibbling with semantics is one of my favorite and probably most annoying hobbies.

    Yeah, screw those people with all their space. You'll make do. Says the guy who is escrow on a bigger place where his wife can actually have an office again, after the baby's hostile takeover a few years back.

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