Friday, October 05, 2007

The theme is "prison"

I've never thought of interior decorating -- or other similar stylistic choices -- in terms of having a theme. Because of my parents' jobs, our house was decorated with rugs and paintings and sculpture they acquired in their various diplomatic posts around the world, accompanied by neutral-toned furniture that wouldn't compete with the art and various objets. Nothing matched in the sense that they didn't pick out upholstery to match drapes to pick up the pattern in the throw pillows, but everything complemented everything else and looked cool. Likewise, I never had a bedroom that was all decorated in Holly Hobby or Peanuts characters or anything like that. It wouldn't have occured to me to ask for it, and it's not really my thing.

As a result, I've been at a loss lately when people ask me what my "theme" is for Zeke or his bedroom. I don't get this at all. I mean, he's a baby. He's not going to give a shit about themes. All he's going to want is to be warm and comfortable and to have access to my boobs whenever he's hungry. My feeling is, if his clothes and sheets and stuff are clean and safe, I've done my job, and as far as their appearance goes, anything simple and not ugly is fine by me. But the women from my exercise class, for example, ask me about my theme and tell me about how their theme for their babies' nurseries was "bears" or "sports" or "Winnie the Pooh." They look at me sort of blankly when I appear confused and a little bit panicked by the question until I blurt out, "my theme is 'baby.' Ha ha." Then their looks change to slightly pitying, as if I'm some poor soul who lacks the imagination to come up with a theme for my child, who will doubtless grow up neglected.

So I've decided on a theme. "Prison." Jason and I joke about how Zeke with be our little convict baby whose ancestors were sent to Australia when it was a penal colony. He's got a Johnny Cash Folsom Prison onesie, and yesterday I made him a t-shirt that says "I Just Spent Nine Months On The Inside." I'm trying to find some jammies that look like an orange prison jumpsuit. So there's your theme, exercise class ladies. I hope it meets with your approval.

Items from Zeke's layette

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous4:14 PM

    i love it and totally agree. and really, it's too bad that all my friends aren't next door neighbors the way I would like for it to be...because then you would know anne and fred. (they just had walter.)

    fred is an artist, so he's making all sorts of stuff and then blogging about it. here's the blog

    http://artdada.blogspot.com/

    but also, here's what he has created and it's sort of in the theme of criminal...see the post of Oct.8 "baby bandolier"

    i can't wait to meet zeke one day. and wendy (and jason, too of course!), you've been in my thoughts. i always want to call, then i remember the time difference, but then remember that you don't sleep, but i wonder if you do now??? or maybe you just are going to the bathroom all the time...so maybe i'll catch you then...

    anyway, i'll just call...
    love,
    elizabeth

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  2. I don't really sleep, partly because I'm always peeing, partly because every time I move in bed my lower abdomen aches (Braxton Hicks, I guess), and partly because I'm an insomniac. I'll give you a call today -- I'd call now but J is still asleep and I don't want to wake him. Zeke told me he can't wait to meet you, either. He thinks you're hott.

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  3. Oh, and I checked out Fred's blog -- absolutely love it, esp the pic of the squid eating the baby. So funny. Poor little Walter. He's a cute monkey.

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  4. To complete the prison theme, I think you need a security door on his room and bars on the windows. How about a onesie that says" I came over on the First Fleet"?

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