Wednesday's Story

When I was a teenager I shared a bedroom with my older sister.

She was "Oscar".

I was "Felix".

We could not change who we were.

I finally had had it with her messiness so we decided to put a piece of masking tape down the middle of the room. Her side could be how she wanted and my side could be how I wanted. My side was nice and tidy. Her side was strewn with clothes, shoes, belts, books, etc. Her side of the dresser was covered with hairspray cans, make-up, brushes, combs, curlers, jewelry and the likes. My side of the dresser was meticulous and I made it even more so to spite her. I know she would purposely not clean her room to spite me back. Argh!

The masking tape ended the arguing. As long as my side was clean I was fine. As long as I didn't clean her side she was fine.

In this is how it was.

Even though I liked my area clean, I did have a couple of guilty pleasures in the likes of two huge posters. Rocky hung on my side of the closet door and ol' Willie was on the wall above my bed. They looked like this:
Don't laugh. I loved the Rocky movies and when I saw the movie "Honeysuckle Rose" with Willie Nelson I thought I was in love. Ha Ha!

My sister did not care for my new found poster collection. But, they were on my side of the room. She could do what she wanted with her side!

Fast Forward several years.

I have my own house. My own rooms. My own children.

I still like things neat and tidy. Everything has a place and should be in it's place. I like clean surfaces and walls without clutter. I like things my way. I am the mom. It's my house. My rules.

Enter Little Mister, age 7.

This is what his bedroom door looked like a few weeks ago.
And the collection grows. This is what it looks like today:
I can hardly stand it. But I leave it alone. (He even has a bulletin board in his room to hang such items on, but he just HAS to choose the front of his bedroom door!)

He has also just announced that he wants two big posters hung above his bed where his "little boy" pictures once hung. Boy, did that bring me back to my youth!

Enter Little Miss, age 8.

She has posters in her room, too.

A few weeks ago we updated her room and removed some "little girl" items. We purchased a tall white bookcase so she could access her books and CD's and other trinkets. Of course, I had in my mind what a decorated bookcase would look like. Her idea was something totally different. As we struggled with the decorating I realized that this was her thing and I needed to step back and let her fly with it. I gently gave her a few tips and off she went with the decorating of her own bookcase. She did great. It's not how I would want it. But, it is hers and it is just fine. Each time I enter her room I want to fix it, but I don't. I just can't. She's so proud of it and loves it just the way it is. She has it filled with books, CD's, headbands, perfume, jars, cans and homemade jewelry...with no rhyme or reason to the placement of anything.

I can only imagine what decor will enter their rooms as they move into the teenage years. Yikes!

I hate crazy movie posters or posters of sports cars. They certainly would not grace the cover of "Better Homes and Gardens".

However, I am learning.

As sure as I taught my mother with the crazy stuff I hung in my room, I am learning this:
"I want my stuff, mom. I want my room to be me. I don't want it decorated like you want it, I want it to be my space. Not you". OK. I am getting it.

I was proud of my posters and unicorn collection, too. Thanks mom for letting me decorate my side of the room how I wanted it when it was YOUR house.

Oh, and my sister, no more masking tape needed!