Goodbye, glider...and babies.

"It has to go, it's really bugging me." 

It had sat in the guest room for months...collecting dust, taking up space, and partially blocking the bed.  Once we gave Liam his "big boy" room, we didn't need a glider in there anymore.  Taking the glider out of his room didn't bother me; it was hard to sit with him in it to read to him anyway, he was getting much too big for that.  We moved it into the guestroom without much thought.

A few weeks ago, I was trying to find something under the bed in that room and became very frustrated that the glider was blocking my way.  While it wasn't super heavy, it was very wide and awkward, and difficult to maneuver out of the way.  My frustration that day, combined with the fact that I knew we'd be having overnight guests a few times throughout the summer, inspired me to snap some pictures of the glider and put it up on craigslist.

The glider was in pretty good shape and I priced it well, so we had a number of inquiries pretty much right away.  Once I started responding to those emails is when it hit me....I won't rock any more babies in this chair.  I won't spend countless hours singing to them, or reading to them, or nodding off in the chair in the middle of the night due to my own exhaustion.  No more glider...no more babies.

The first person to email me about it had arranged to come see it the evening after I posted it, and as we were carrying it down the stairs that night, I shared this little realization/confession with Brian.  I discovered that instead of thinking I was out of my mind for being sad about getting rid of something we weren't going to use, he had actually had the same thoughts. He even said he had second thoughts about posting it on craigslist when I suggested we do so, but then realized it wasn't doing us any good in our home anymore so he told me to go ahead and post it.  We thought briefly that maybe we should pull the listing down, but it was too late, we had someone coming to get the chair that night. (To clarify, neither of us are having second thoughts about being done having babies...we know that's the right decision for our family, the second thoughts are more about getting rid of something that we have kind of an emotional attachment to)

But of course, it's craigslist and that person didn't bother to show up or call, so we were faced with one of those "now what?" moments.  I knew it was silly to keep it, so I moved to the 2nd person who had responded to the ad.  His wife was expecting their first child in just a few short weeks, and a glider was the only thing he still needed for the nursery.  He was so grateful that it was still available, and agreed to buy it that weekend.

I know this sounds silly, but I was so happy that it went to a nice couple who would continue the tradition of rocking babies in it.  I don't know why I would care, but I hated the thought of maybe selling it to someone who would only re-upholster it and then use it in a living room or an office.  I wanted it to be in a nursery, with a soft-lit lamp on a table beside it, and a parent enjoying the sweet baby smell while rocking back and forth.  I wanted it to be with someone who would read that baby books and sing songs at all hours of the day and night. 

It was a great few years, glider....I hope you bring as much joy to the next family as you did to ours.

Jake, 6 weeks old

Jake, 3 months old

Aunt Amy and Jake, 7 months old

me and Jake, 9 months old

Nana and Jake, 14 months old

GG and Jake, 18 months old

Liam's turn to use the glider! 2 months old

Liam, 3 months old, Jake 3.5 years old

Christmas Eve bedtime stories - Liam 1.5 years old, Jake almost 5 years old

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