(no subject)

[felicula]

Happy Birthday Aidan!

Last night mechanchaos and I were up Way Too Late. He was working on Aidan's birthday present, and I was dubiously keeping him company. It was good timing really. Aidan doesn't really lack for toys, nor does he lack for books. Most gadgets out there are both above our budget and not something I'd want my son to have. Free was in our budget, though. My dad just bought a new computer for himself. That means his old (read: bought with Windows 95 from Gateway, I'm blanking on a lot of the stats other than it only has 64 Mb of RAM) computer was up for grabs.

Without Aidan knowing, we brought it back this past Sunday. mechanchaos burned the small amount of flotsam from it's hard drive that my dad didn't want to get rid of. Then last night, he wiped the hard drive and reinstalled the OS (a dubious yay to having all the original support software and an unopened "upgrade to Windows 98" CD.) Then he installed most of the Aidan-specific software.

Sometime well after 2am in the morning we went to bed. Aidan was up early. Somehow, I managed to sleepily convince him that snuggling with us would make us much less cranky than waking us up yet would. Still, he was awake, restless, and decided to go in his room to get dressed.

As I'd forgotten to let anyone know yesterday, his dresser drawer stuck. For all those who haven't already heard me rant up and down about that shoddily-assembled, extruded-wood-pulp, piece of "furniture" worth less than the flatulence of the workers who assembled it, well... The thing is basically glorified cardboard (3/4" thick reconstituted wood pulp, but still...) , and had been falling apart from day one. My parents bought it for him. I don't know what kind of crack they were smoking at the time to make them think it would hold up in a growing boy's bedroom.

***takes a deep breath*** ANYhow...

Recently one of the drawers lost its front. Today, after I'd slid back into slumber, mechanchaos went groggily in to help Aidan open his drawer. It stuck. They pulled. Another drawer disitegrated, err... fell apart. The Thing was a mess of exposed industrial staples, NOT safe for My Son's bedroom.

So about 9am we all got up, got dressed, and got ourselves ready to go impromptu thrifting. I also neatly emptied every scrap of clothing that had occupied his "dresser" prior to that. Art's Used Furniture (I think that was the name...) on Dewey was low on selection aside from several sets that were over out budget. So, we trucked over to VoA on Lake Ave.

Score.

They had TONS of dressers. Yeah, many of them didn't work right, looked horribly dated, or were flimsily made, but among them was some grandmother's old dresser with metal handles that looked a little like art nouveau. The top was beat up a little, but still flat and still solid. The bottoms of the draws have got to be cherry. They smell right for it. It's decently well built, not flawless, but will likely last much longer than that waste of money that had occupied that spot in Aidan's room before.

We paid for it, then we had to get it here. Unfortunately VoA delivery costs would have COMPLETELY defeated the purpose of buying there anyway. So, Aidan, myself, and all extraneous whatever from the car got deposited back home while mechanchaos went back to pick it up.

In the meantime, Aidan amused himself while I made space in the hallway. I put the cats in the bathroom so that we wouldn't have to worry about an escapee. Then, I took each and every piece of that broken monstrosity out to the curb.

I may be poor, but I have pride enough not to purchase items that will loose their handles immediately and shred their drawers within several years. I have no love for paper veneers over chipboard or other cheap wood by-products. I would rather buy 3/4" thick plastic or welded steel than something that is more closely related to cardboard than to tree. It is disrespectful to the trees that went into building it, if nothing else. I am a cheap, penny-pinching bastard, but I'd rather get a beat up classic that has already stood the test of time at a thrift store than a brand-spanking-new pile of shite.

***takes another deep breath***

After mechanchaos and I brought the new-to-us dresser upstairs and got it situated in Aidan's room, I realized that it was bigger than the other. In a blaze of tetris-minded-housewife, I culled out the clothing that was too small, worn, or stained, and even added some of the closet-hung clothes into the piles waiting to go back into drawers.

The dresser's sectioned top drawer more comfortably accomodated what had previously lived in the two half-size top drawers of the old one. The drawer below it could definitely accomodate not only the usual round of long pants and long sleeve shirts, but all the summer wear and swim trunks too. The third had so much space left over after adding winter and summer pajamas that I put in one of Aidan's winter blankets too.

There was one left over... So, in went the winter and summer sheets along with a couple of the baby blankets that were handmade that I didn't want to part with. The bin that had held them now holds Aidan's comforter that had taken up summer residence draped on the couch.

Aidan and I got his toys back in place, and spent some time sorting through ones that were't quite age-appropriate for him anymore. Once we had the room in tip-top shape, mechanchaos and I asked Aidan to wait in the bathroom and not look.

We tag-teamed the computer setup in Aidan's room. mechanchaos went into the bathroom, picked up the birthday boy, admonished him to keep his eyes closed tight, and carried him into his bedroom. The machine was already on, and mechanchaos set Aidan down directly in the chair in front of the computer.

I think Aidan didn't really know how to react. At first he seemed reserved about it. We got scared that he didn't like it. That's definitely changed, though. He's been spending a lot of time in his room, taking a tour of the games and software installed on his machine. But every time he comes out and passes by me he makes some exclamation regarding how neat it is. "Thank you for the surprise," he happily hugged at me recently. Just now, he opened the door with, "Mommy, I love you very much," grinning wide before closing the door again.

Today's his birthday. There'll be time Sunday to make and enforce rules about time spent on the computer. Right now it's nice to know that he loves his present, even though it was secondhand. I smile just as much knowing that he has a better dresser in his room now too. I'll be even happier when that other Thing is carted away for good.

Apparently the steps to our house are separate from the house, and hollow. One of Aidan's cards in the mail fell behind it. By some miracle, mechanchaos and a yardstick were able to fish it out again. Good thing, too. It had $5 for Aidan in it!

We also got a big box from ecwoodburn and lite today, but have decided to let the gifts and card therein to join the others at the party. ***hugs lots***

Thank you to everyone who wished Aidan a Happy Birthday, too. He's been enjoying watching me read the entries to him.