Re-covering the past: The Sentimental Value of Other People's Furniture

Our house is decorate primarily in OPF (Other People's Furniture). Marrying young and poor, we quickly became magnets for anything that friends or relations were giving away. This set a precedent of a home full of artifacts from those we love. Even when we both had professional jobs, we found we didn't want to part with grandma's couch, mom's childhood dresser, auntie's steamer trunk with all its old shipping labels, or the huge and gracious dining room table that served two generations of Oregon Joneses before us.

Throughout childhood, I could always find the same folding step stool in every house we owned. It was a great toddler seat, so it's a prominently featured element of many family event photos.

After my grandmother died, I inherited her step stool which happens to be identical to the one still in my mom's kitchen. The stool moved into our first house's kitchen, but it was relegated to a closet when we moved here. There are only a few nooks and crannies that we can't access while standing on the floor, so there didn't seem to be much of a point in keeping it out when an already handy chair could serve in a pinch.

That was, until a few weeks ago when I momentarily lost my balance standing on a chair. Fortunately, I caught myself as only Ranger and I were home and he's hardly ready to pick me up off the floor or call 9-1-1.

After a lecture from Jim (which I totally resisted to acknowledge as sensible), I noticed that Ranger's beloved Richard Scarry Busytown videos have a musical segment on kitchen safety for kids which includes NEVER standing on a chair. The fact that Jim's advice was as elementary as the concepts that stoves are hot and knives are sharp tweeked my conscience.

The stool emerged that afternoon from its closet entombment. Ranger immediately found it awesome, and I realized that decades of regular use had left it with more grime and damage than in my memories.

After a good scrubbing, the foot tread was black again, but the top step/seat had faded from cheerful yellow to sad off-white and was tearing at the corners.

So I replaced the vinyl and padding on the seat. For $3, I found some vinyl that matched the cheerful yellow of my childhood and the new padding (low loft polyester quilt batting) cost around $1 more.

I removed the seat pad and cleaned under it (the dark spots in the photo are places where the metal is discolored or scuffed). The seat pad is a thin wooden piece of pressboard topped with batting then covered with vinyl and stapled. I pulled out all the staples and found that the cotton batting was worn flat and stained from spills that seeped under the seat. Using the old vinyl and batting as templates, I cut two layers of fresh batting and one piece of new vinyl. After some stretching and stapling, the seat pad was refreshed and replaced.

Such a small refurbishing project results in sweet flashback of childhood in the kitchen. I'm delighted every time Ranger perches on it.

Pane-less Toddler Craft: "Stained Glass"

We recently found ourselves in search of a craft that could entertain a crowd of wee folk between ages 18 months and 8 years. Glue, paint, and markers all promised more mess than I wanted to clean up in a borrowed space.

In the GIANT Encyclopedia of Theme Activities for Children 2 to 5 (borrowed from the library), we found a great Stained Glass craft that involves neither glass nor stain. It seemed flexible enough to entertain a crowd of various ages.

With 2 pieces of clear Con-tact paper (available at craft and discount stores in a variety of lengths), a construction paper frame, and small squares of colored tissue paper or cellophane, you can entertain kids (and adults) for a while.

Before introducing toddlers to the scene, pre-cut your frame, 2 slightly larger pieces of Con-tact paper, and tissue paper squares.

Bring on the kids.

Help the kids remove the backing from one sheet of Con-tact paper (even early toddlers can enjoy separating the Con-tact paper and its backing if someone starts a corner for them).

Place the Con-tact paper on the table sticky side up.

If you want to write something on the frame now is the time. Names are a good addition if lots of kids are doing the same craft. Center and place the frame face down on the Con-tact paper.

Now the kids can place colored shapes all over the sticky paper. Overlapping pieces and pieces going over the frame are no problem. Older kids might want to make mosaic-style images or patterns.

When the young artist feels their work is completed, help them remove the backing from the second piece of Con-tact paper. Place the Con-tact paper face down on the completed mosaic. Don't worry about lining up the edges exactly- you can trim away the surplus for a neat edge.

If you want, you can use a hole-punch and yarn to make a hanger, but we just taped our finished project to the window.

Clean up is easy (throw out Con-tact backings and sweeping up tissue squares), and even very young children have the satisfaction of completing a craft.

Extra-Thirsty and Other Warning Signs

Pop quiz (in honor of the return to school season):

Do you know the warning signs for Type 1 diabetes? How about Type 2?

Mom blogger Leeanthro recently reminded me that diabetes can strike even preschoolers, and the symptoms can elude watchful parents because we're not on the lookout for this specific condition. Two of the hardest moments in my mom's teaching career have been informing families that their child's classroom behavior merits diabetes screening.

Jim and I lost a friend to Type 1 diabetes in the 90s not long after his college graduation. Half a decade later one of our closest friends was hospitalized with life-threatening symptoms of undiagnosed Type 2 diabetes.

While we can (and should) seek a cure for diabetes and support those already diagnosed (as Leeantrho is currently doing in her Blog to Fight Diabetes campaign), please familiarize yourself with the common symptoms of diabetes for the health of your family and your community. Don't be afraid to speak up if you notice diabetic symptoms in someone else's child.

And, if you want to talk about gestational diabetes, feel free to send us an email. We learned about that firsthand when pregnant with Ranger.

Terrific Twos: Tandem Toddler Playtime

Last week we were thrilled to have a favorite young guest make a morning visit. Our sweet-tempered guest is about 6 months younger than Ranger, so they're both making the transition from parallel to interactive play.

Before our guest's arrival, some of Ranger's most beloved objects were placed in his room to prevent crises in sharing. We tend to play only in the public areas of the house to prevent triggering his sometimes territorial behavior.

He and our guest had a lovely time playing together with Colorforms on the fridge. The big blank space gave them lots of freedom and it was really sweet to hear them identifying shapes and colors to each other.

The big hit of the morning though had to be PAINTING (it even outranked Cheerios). A few months ago I lucked across an unopened Buddah Board at a local thrift shop (50 cents, normally ~$22). It's simple, reusable paint with water surface is great for two toddlers to share and it dries fast enough that there's always some white space available for painting.

They had a great time painting, and I loved watching them in this charming new age of (periodic) cooperation.