That's what I said to Aidan the other day. Unfortunately he didn't share my enthusiasm. He responded, "No, you're just my Mommy." Oh well.
The reason for my outburst of glee? For my truly amazing fait accompli? I installed an audio system, all by myself. OK, I'm sure I'm making a way bigger deal out of it than is due, but hey -- I'm entitled to a a pat on the back. And here's the story ...
My aunt and uncle are storing the majority of our furniture in their second floor unused apartment. Some time ago, we went over there to dispose of an old chair that my uncle said was smelling up his front porch, where it was housed. At some point over the years, it had become Jack's chair, and it did look rather unsightly -- threadbare upholstery, embedded dog hair that refused to come out, etc. While it looked a mess, I didn't smell a thing, but even so we decided to get rid of it. While we were there, I saw a box marked "sterio" ... I wasn't sure what it was, until I opened it up an saw that it was indeed a "stereo." I took it back home with me, figuring we could find some use for it rather than sitting out in the elements on my uncle's porch. I knew just where I wanted it: the kids' bedroom. In our previous homes, Aidan had his own room, and loving music as he does, we had a cheap little CD player that he could operate and play his favorite tunes. Upon moving here, the CD player broke and Aidan has been asking for a new one, to play his music again in the bedroom.
Perfect, I thought -- we'll just use our old "sterio." "It'll never work," said Don -- he thought it was "too much" of a system for the little, crowded bedroom. Now, this was a rather expensive little system -- not a mere "boom box." We bought it several years ago for our second parsonage, due to our massive bedroom and the isolated layout of the second floor. We needed a system that was small, yet powerful enough to fill the second floor with music. Don found a perfect little Cambridge Soundworks system, we saved our pennies, and it was ideal. It's a rather complex little system with several components: two speakers, the main CD player/radio part, a sub-woofer, and lots of wires. All I wanted was good sound; I didn't have to bother with any of that other stuff ...
Until now. I opened the "sterio" box and saw black items of varying sizes and a mess of wires like black spaghetti. I was definitely trodding on foreign ground, but I was determined to have music in my kids' bedroom. I pulled out all the components, lined them up, sorted out the wires, and calmly and deliberately set to work on this crazy puzzle. I didn't understand all of the words on the back -- "input" something-or-other, "max" something else. I just plugged things in where I thought they should go. The trickiest part came with a set of wires with frayed ends, little copper wires sticking out like strands of hair. That was a little intimidating, but I found a place to put them -- or so I hoped ...
Finally I plugged it in and said, "Ready, Aidan?" I hit the power button ... and out came music! I went nuts, shouting and dancing around. I really surprised myself. Aidan thought I was a little crazy and in that childlike honesty you sometimes hate said, "Daddy's still better at that" -- but he too was pretty happy to hear his music. And to top it all off, I got it all set up perfectly, with the player and speaker on top of a bookcase, high enough for Aidan to reach while standing on a chair yet still out of Grace's reach (for now). The sub-woofer is hidden in the closet to the left, tucked away completely out of sight, without a single wire exposed. Right now Grace is in there, eating her snack of Gorilla Munch and singing and dancing to "Action Bible Songs for Kids." Yes, I'm awesome.
Maybe I should go work as an A/V installer and let Don be a stay-at-home dad ... or not. Don gave me a very indulgent smile when he came home from work, like I was a little child presenting my crayon scribblings to him and believing I'm the next Van Gogh. Maybe he was feeling threatened by this new-found competition in the house. And now I must get back to my reality -- Grace just dumped the box of Gorilla Munch all over the kitchen floor. So much for my moment of glory ... Ah, the trip from high to low occurs in the blink of an eye with a two-year-old in your midst ...
2 comments:
rock on, techno girl!
What great mother you are to make this happen! To bad about Grace dropping food on the kitchen floor. The highs and lows of parenthood. But you can repay her when you get older and have a senior moment before getting to the bathroom. This happened with my father one to many times. I sort of yelled at him,quite unwise since he is 81 years old. He replied i never put you down when you did this at age two. I felt so bad because you wonder do you treat your children the way you want to be treated.
Thanks for reading my comment.
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