The New Ottoman

    I have been nesting in full force since I was about 6 weeks pregnant. I've been in a constant de-cluttering and organizing  mode. As a result the storage area and my craft room have been purged several times and the Goodwill near my OB office has seen a spike in donations. And also as a result our coffee table ended up in the burn pile. 

    We have been talking about replacing the coffee table for years. I bought it at a thrift store for $10 before we were married. I thought it was a great deal when I got it, we loved it for a time, and it served it's purpose, but it had to go. We had been looking for something not quite as ugly to take it's place but never found anything we both liked. It was big and dark and covered with cat scratches and a irremovable layer of stickiness that comes from years of toddlers eating breakfast at it. All it did was collect clutter.  So one day I couldn't take it anymore and hauled it outside. 

    The boys instantly loved the extra space it's absence left in the living room and right away got to work plowing, planting, and combining the fresh carpet under where the coffee table stood. The extra space also proved to be great for wrestling, playing "shark" and "T-Rex" and just general rough housing in the living room.  I wished I had gotten rid of the dark, dated, ark-like coffee table months ago. 

    But we still needed something there, so I made an ottoman. Supported with headliner foam and stuffed with about 10 bags of fiber fill, the boys quickly discovered that the new ottoman is a big squishy irresistible pouf of playtime potential.  It was like an indoor playground just for them. For the first couple weeks of being proud ottoman owners we had to hide it from the boys because of the general recklessness it caused. We are now able to keep the new ottoman in the living room, but not without a few new household rules. Like more household rules than I care to admit, this set of rules has evolved over time through the usual course of "unrealistic expectations," to  "I'm going to lose my mind trying to enforce this," to a list of "they're more like guidelines anyway."

    If you visit my house, this will be what you see the ottoman possibly being used for, and the new household rules enacted as a result.

-Rolling the new ottoman all over the house.
New house rule: The ottoman is not a toy boulder.

-Jumping on the ottoman.
New house rule:  The ottoman is not a toy trampoline.

-Sumo wrestling with the ottoman.
New house rule:  The ottoman is not a toy to be used to smoosh your brother no matter how hilarious he thinks it is.

Sprinting across the kitchen, diving through the air, and landing on their stomachs on the ottoman.
New house rule:  Yes, you jumped really high but the ottoman is still not a toy.

Continuing to roll the new ottoman all over the house.
New house rule:  Even though you still think that the ottoman is a toy, it must stay in the living room.

Starting on the couch, jumping off and using the ottoman as a springboard, sprinting across the kitchen, and sliding on their knees into playroom, seeing how close they can come to smashing into the wall without actually hitting it.
New house rule: If you say, "I better go get my bike helmet for this," even though Mommy is proud of you for taking safety precautions, you probably should not be doing what you're doing.  (Unless you're skateboarding, somehow skateboarding in the kitchen was approved by the parental council as long as one is under 4 feet tall and wearing a helmet).

Sprinting across the kitchen and jumping over the ottoman ("See Mommy, I'm not even touching the ottoman now!").
New house rule: Oh, whatever.

Lining up the trampoline, the giant Lego cushions, the ottoman, and the couch to make a "bouncy" room.
New house rule:  If you get hurt using the ottoman as a toy, I will not feel bad for you.

Jumping off the recliner, almost touching the ceiling, and landing on their stomachs on the ottoman.

New house rule: This not allowed. However they were able to get a couple jumps in while I watched wondering how we've managed to never have to take either of them to the ER.

The new ottoman--it's a bit more lopsided now than it started out.