New bed
When we left the UK three years ago we had to sell a lot of our possessions. It was hardest on the kids. We sold all their bedroom furniture including beds and promised them that when they got to Australia they could have ANY bed they wanted in the bed shop.
Sian chose a huge bunk bed with a desk underneath and a futon chair that folded out into a single bed for sleepovers. Rhiannon chose a cabin bed, medium height with cupboards, shelves and a pull out desk underneath. Gareth looked around the whole shop and refused to choose any bed. He wanted a "Tiger bed"
He was not quite three years old and we could not get him to elaborate on what exactly a "Tiger bed" was. He inherited a simple single bed from Anne. It had been his Auntie Rhonda's when she grew out of her cot thirty years before! One day as we walked down the local street he shouted and pointed from his buggy. "There it is, there's my tiger bed" It was a bed linen set on sale in a local shop. It had pictures of elephants, bears, giraffes.... and tigers! We bought it and for the last three years Gareth has been happy with his "Tiger bed"
This year we asked him what he wanted for his birthday. We thought he might want a toy but instead he asked for a new bed. We went around the bed shops and he ended up choosing exactly the same bed as Rhiannon has in her room. It was delivered today.
I got home from a very physical day at work in theatre minutes before the school bus pulled up. Byron had worked from home for the day to be there for the bed delivery. I helped the kids finish their weeks homework, washed out lunchboxes, refilled drink bottles and started preparing dinner. I was heading out to work again at 5.30pm so when Mr B called me upstairs and asked me how long I thought it would take two of us to assemble the bed you can just imagine my response. But then the challenge kicked in. Me, Byron, flat pack furniture, a stopwatch, the advantage of having put an identical bed together 3 years ago on my own! How hard could it be???
....and so began two hours of cursing, huffing and puffing as we emptied Gareth's room, assembled the new bed and I ran up and down the stairs to check on a dinner that was boiling over in the kitchen! I left for work, late, dripping in sweat and having thrown dinner at the kids and Byron but with a fantastic new bed in Gareth's room. The only disappointing thing was not getting to share in the excitement of tucking him up in it as he went to sleep in it for the first time.
Here is a photo of him looking chuffed just before going to sleep in his new bed that still has the great "Tiger" bedlinen on it!
