Goodnight Stars…

A little over 12 years ago, my new wife and I found the house we wanted to raise our kids in. As we went about turning this house into our own, we approached decorating the spare bedrooms with some trepidation. Which room did we WANT to be the new baby room? We were definitely planning on having at least 1 child so did we want the baby room to be upstairs or down? Closer to the stairs or farther away? Over our heads or under us? We ended up picking the far upstairs bedroom and set about making it a relaxing room for whenever we had our first child.

Not a year later, we were ready for the stork to arrive. During the process, we chose not to know the gender of our child, waiting for it to be a fun surprise. Well…as you can imagine…if you’re decorating for a baby, knowing the sex is pretty important. You don’t want to paint it blue if it’s a girl or pink if it’s a boy. It’s not written anywhere that it’s a faux pas however, we felt going the safe route was the best so…we painted the new baby room yellow. It already had a lime green carpeting anyway so….it was the best way to go. We also decided to take advantage of a friends’ mother’s ability to visualize what a fun baby room would look like and invited her to work her magic. She painted pastel shooting stars all over the room, giving it a magical quality that I know I would have totally screwed up had I tried to do the project on my own. And thusly…a baby room was born.

For over 11 years that room hadn’t changed. The room was still yellow. It still had the stars. It still had the much dirtier lime green carpet. But now the time has come to change it. Our daughter, the 8-year old artist, wants her room to be a lovely shade of purple. And you know what…I think it’s time. Time to paint over the beautiful little stars that cover the walls and give her a fresh palette to work with. The stars have fallen on the heads of both our children. They have given them wonderful dreams. I can only imagine that both of our kids lay awake several times during their infancy, looking at the colorful shapes above their heads until falling quietly asleep. They have seen so much of our family. They watched as Christopher rolled off his changing table (he wasn’t hurt thankfully). They probably chuckled when Ava pulled her dresser over on top of herself (she wasn’t hurt thankfully). They shined brightly when morning came for the first and last days of school. Together they form a perfect union of color and have been the best friends our children could ask for. But now…it’s time to move on.

So…Stephanie, the kids and I have set out to paint over the beautiful little stars. It’s a little sad but like all great stories, I hope they will always be remembered by both of the kids and maybe someday, when it’s time for them to have their own children, they too will have stars streaking across the room of their son or daughter. It would be a nice family tradition and if I get a chance to help them, it will be a pleasure. Thank you little stars, for protecting our children and making them feel at home. And until next time…”Goodnight moon, goodnight stars…goodnight everyone everywhere…”