Ever since I was a little girl, I always felt so cozy and safe in my room. I didn’t like sharing it with my sister, but when she wasn’t around, I was peaceful and serene in my little part of the world. When I was about sixteen, I moved down into the basement. It was paneled, and I decorated it with all my favorite things. I had a nice queen sized bed, a television, and all my little knick knacks I had gathered over the years. What once had been the home for playing with my dolls, was now a teenager’s haven. I could talk on my phone without anyone hearing me, or my dad yelling at me to get off. I didn’t have to deal with watching football or baseball on our family TV. I didn’t have to engage in arguments with my dad, or brothers and sister.
Yes, I was quite content in my humble abode. The only bad thing that happened was one morning when I went to put my slipper on, my foot wouldn’t go in. I reached my hand up into the slipper, and a mouse was sleeping soundly. Not after I screamed, however. He ran off, I ran upstairs, and when I came home that day and went into the boiler room to check something, my sleeping buddy was on the floor, stiff as a board. My mother said i had given it a heart attack with my screams.
I knew what I did and how I felt in my corner of the universe. I knew I prayed, and slept, and had dreams and thought, and tried to figure problems out, and daydreamed. Having time alone helps us get to know ourselves. I vowed that when I had kids, I would try to do the same for their rooms. That day came, and I kept my word to myself. My kids’ rooms were always comfortable and inviting. I knew they, too, dreamt and slept and thought in their rooms, even as youngsters. I had a cassette player in each room and peaceful music for them to listen to while trying to go to sleep. They seemed to love their rooms, never knowing what had gone on in mommy’s mind about those rooms, for years. I had shelves and toy boxes for their toys, and my tidy brain. My room was comfortable, but it was purely functional for many years when my kids were young.
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