Aselin

Having moved from our home in Scottsdale where our three children had to endure the inconceivable injustice of sharing two bedrooms they acted thrilled at the selection of the new home with three separate bedrooms right in a row. It’s not that we didn’t have extra bedrooms before; they were just located on what we called ominously “The Other Side,” far from earshot of the rest of the family. Those who visited enjoyed the privacy; those who lived there feared it. So, in celebration of her new personal space Darby was allowed to accompany Scott and me to Ikea where she selected her own bedroom set. It was all I could do not to have a seizure right there in the “bedrooms” section of Ikea as I did everything in my power to subliminally influence her toward a “better” selection.

Undaunted she chose a modern white styling accented with bold red and black accessories. Having to wait half the day in line in order to check-out allowed me time to reason with myself about the fantastic parenting I was doing by allowing her this generous opportunity for self expression. This self-lecture continued through the days of furniture assembly, and the purging of her rodent-esque collection of water park bracelets, three-year old school assignments, unrecognizable food, and clothing stuffed in every nook and cranny imaginable. As I deep-breathed my slightly OCD self through this joyous set-up process I could hear Dr. Benjamin Spock echoing through the recesses of my mind as he commended my expert building of her self-esteem.

The final project took all five of us Maloneys to complete. (How many Maloneys does it take to assemble Ikea furniture?) I must say, I quite liked the finished ensemble. Here we are five months after turning over the keys to our little Extreme Makeover selectee and she has spent fewer nights in the room than I have fingers. (For those of you who are aware of my hillbilly heritage I was one the family members lucky enough to receive all 10 fingers). Nightly I go to kiss my children after they have nodded off, only to have to search for Darby who is usually found crammed in a twin bed with one of her siblings. For all that yammering about “becoming a teenager and needing her own space” she certainly prefers sharing other’s. It is cute, except when Scott starts to lecture about how we don’t need all this space and we should just move to a trailer in Idaho.

What I love about Darby is that despite her teenage need to grow up, she is grown up enough to still need her family. Wisdom does not always come with age, sometimes it comes before.