EMOTIONS FROM CHILDHOOD BEDROOM TO GUEST ROOM

Our daughter’s childhood bedroom is now the guest room. We have not told her yet. I am processing the unexpected emotions from closing a chapter of our daughter’s life, wrapped up in a 12×14 space -to a guest room with folded towels.

MEMORIES

Over the past few months, I packed her sorority t-shirts, swim team ribbons, tennis trophies, and her elementary, high school, and college keepsake boxes into her closet.

She has so many boxes. Her detailed label on her Ikea boxes put my Home Depot-size plastic bins to shame.

Her homecoming and prom dresses are encased in dry cleaning bags for future generations to play dress up. They are next to her canvas overalls with puffy paint to match her high school colors for Homecoming week.

The last thing I removed from the walls were the fabric-covered bulletin boards. They were one of my first DIY projects featured on the blog.

When it was time to load the car for a Goodwill drop I hesitated with the bulletin boards and sorority t-shirts. As I looked into the back of the car, filled with bags and boxes, my husband said, “Let them go.”

Did he say let her go?

The transition from her childhood bedroom to a guest room was more emotional than expected. My goal was to move her stuff to the closet until she and her new husband purchased their first home.

My Christmas trees are currently on a waitlist to lease her closet.

So many memoriesare tucked in the corners of her bedroom.

Like the time she had her wisdom teeth removed and her brothers filmed her trying to eat jello.

We have fun as a family with some of these ideas to stay connected.

Or the nights she helped her younger brother with his spelling words.

Or when she ran out of her room screaming after her brothers sprayed body spray into the shared vents between their bedrooms.

The time she announced she had to break up with her boyfriend (of seven days). We used the line, “Just rip off that bandaid.” I think we quoted one of her uncle’s strategies.

Or the first day of her first job.

In the evenings, she studied at her desk for the CPA exams. Her schedule was brutal, with a full-time job, a daily commute to downtown Denver, and living with her parents and brothers after four years of college, including a semester of study abroad in Florence.

TRANSITIONS

I moved her favorite books from her trundle bed and built-in bookcase to her closet. I have plans to make a few budget-friendly changes like the ones I made in her brothers’ bedrooms.

And replaced childhood blankies with something more mature but with a bit of fun and whimsy for the nights/holidays, she stays with us.

The memories of the magic carpet ride to the bunny hill. The lost goggles were somewhere between the parking lot and the chairlift.

Of course, we will always have this room to remember her middle school years.

So those two bulletin boards made it to Goodwill. It turns out my husband said, “Let them go…”

I love you to the moon and back Ashley. I am blessed to have watched you grow into the amazing young woman you are today.

Thank you for stopping by today. Stay tuned for the teen childhood makeover to a guest room.

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