Out With the Old

In with the new! New bed, that is! I have to post about this because it is just too darn important to not post.
If you have children, then you'll probably understand just where I'm coming from with this...

For some time now, we have been asking Jonah if he thought he was ready for a "big boy" bed.
Oh, wait! Let me back up a little bit first.You see, when our oldest son, Owen, was almost 2, and we were just weeks away from baby boy #2 arriving, Jan found this great Thomas the Tank Engine toddler bed.

And I couldn't have asked for a smoother transition from crib to bed for Owen. The first night we put him in it, he did not cry, he did not wake in the night, he did not even ask about going back to his crib. Whew! That was a relief for a mommy who's next baby needed that crib soon. Jonah arrived next, and he stayed in the crib until he was 2 1/2. Then, lo and behold, we had to make another shift because baby #3 was due in a matter of months, and I just wasn't so sure Jonah would take to the change as swiftly as Owen had. Owen got a big boy bed upstairs, and "Thomas bed" worked it's charm again in making Jonah feel excited about moving out of the crib and making room for one more baby in our house. He loved that bed!
Now, Jonah is five (and a half) and after much discussion and a little debating, we decided it was time to move to a big boy bed like Owen. Jan's mother had an antique bed room suit at her house in the spare room, and the furniture is probably almost 100 years old. Jan's grandfather, who was born in 1900, slept in the bed as a young man and then Jan's mother and brother used it as children, I think. It has character, and it is just what Jonah needed! He loves it and has asked us repeatedly, "How old is the bed again, Daddy?"

Because Mary Claire will actually be the first child of ours to have the opportunity to use the crib as a toddler bed, I decided to put the Thomas bed on Craigslist the other day just to see if I could sell it. Do you know I sold it in about an hour after listing it? I couldn't believe it! (Of course, the money wasn't in my hand until 2 days later, but you get the point...) Thursday night was when they came to pick it up, and we said our goodbyes before the people arrived. I videoed our good-bye because I wanted us to remember Thomas bed and then something I never expected to happen happened as we sat there explaining that the people who were buying the bed were on their way over...Owen started crying!!

Jonah had this "I'm about to cry" look on his face, too, and my heart almost broke.  As Jan started taking the bed apart, Owen clung to the smokestack and little tears ran down his face. He didn't throw a fit, he just cried softly to himself. We hugged and I held him for a minute on the floor of Jonah's room. When the people pulled into the driveway was when Jonah started crying. He walked into the kitchen where I was, and I immediately picked his "heavy-weight" little self up and hugged him tightly as Jan greeted the people at the door. I was trying so hard not to cry for fear that the buyers would see me. I think it was more upsetting that my boys were feeling sad than anything else. Jonah was fine after a little hug from Mommy and a reminder that he was getting the extra special big boy bed! I waited until they were gone with Thomas bed, and then it was Jan's turn to hug me as I cried. :-) I know it sounds silly, but it's something that means alot to us...which is why I think "Thomas bed" deserved his own post on our family blog.

This is Mary Claire reading with friends, Faith and Sam. Taken this past September, this is the last picture I could find of one of the children in Thomas bed.

"We'll always remember you, Thomas Bed. Thanks for the memories. I hope the little boy who gets you loves you as much as my little boys did!"