All Quiet Here

7/14/2012

All Quite Here

While this is picture is a few months old, you get the idea.  This is Ben and he spent a few days with us this week.  While he's here it's like a tornado hit the place.  Ben, unlike his father and uncles, is allowed to play in Mom-Mom's living room and my coffee table has the marks to prove it.  When Jeff and I moved into our house in 1986 we turned the living room into the "no go zone" and if you were under the age of 21, it was pretty much off limits.  In a house of boys of all sizes and ages it was the ONLY place in the house that was the least bit "girlie".  I had a flowered sofa, lots and lots of collectible glass (and still do) sitting around and a clean carpet.  And I wanted it to stay that way and it did for many years.

When Ben came along, I was older and my favorite chair (which we've discussed before) sits in the formal living room which isn't so formal anymore.  I found it easier, and still do, to keep tabs on Ben if he played in and around the living room.  It's true that as a concession, and a small one, I moved off of my coffee table a beautiful, Murano aquarium piece that Jeff gave me many years ago.  Otherwise, the glass is still in place and unbroken!  When Ben initially found his sea legs he would from time-to-time go and "pat" the curio cabinets but could quickly be redirected.  Today at 4, Ben gives the cabinets no attention at all.

Today, Ben plays house, kitchen and car racing games with me in my living room.  Is my coffee table which is sometimes used as the launching pad for a car a bit scarred - yep.  Is that a problem - nope.  While the scratches on the table would have freaked me out years ago, I now accept them more readily.  Why?  Because they were made by a little boy that I love.  I also appreciate now (and didn't years ago) that Ben will eventually grow up, as my sons did, and my coffee table will be sitting in my living room holding nothing more than a cup of coffee and years of memories of a time when Ben was small.  We love you Tornado Ben!

P