Sunday Morning With Hayden -- Bye Bye Biscuit

Over the last nine years I have been working on painting my master bedroom. I have lived in this house that long and mine is the only room in the house that has never been painted (other than the builders off white). I have thought about it, planned it, settled on one of the many different color paint chips taped to the wall, and then changed my mind. I am usually very good at making decisions, but choosing what color to paint this room has eluded me.  I always tend to look to nature to help me pick a color.  I love  shades of blue, green and brown. But, I was really trying to stay away from that by doing something total different. Well, I think that was what was causing the hold up.  I was trying not to listen to my gut instinct. I should know better. My gut never leads me astray.


When we first moved in to this four bedroom house, I was pregnant with Liam. We knew he was going to be a boy, so my first thought was to make the smallest room his nursery, put the two older boys together in the biggest room and give the only girl her own room in the middle sized bedroom.  Ryan being the oldest thought he should have his own room. After much deliberation on my part, as the kids already seemed to have it all worked out, I decided to let Ryan have the little room to himself.  As I was due in three months, making a room for the new baby took precedence. Typical nesting. 
Dylan helped me pick a "space" theme for the room he would be sharing with Liam. I purchased a whole space line of bedding and decor items form Pottery Barn Kids. The room was so cute! Sounds like everything was fine, right?


Wrong.
After about six months, Ryan wanted to switch rooms to be with Dylan. I don't know if it was my awesome space paint job, or just the fact that he missed sharing with Dylan, but he was adamant.
This met having to paint the smallest room for Liam. I choose a "Biscuit" theme for the nursery. For those who don't know, Biscuit is a dog in a series of children's books by Alyssa Satin Capucilli. I painted Biscuit murals on every wall. I had so much fun!

I'm not forgetting Kyra in all this, but her room took a couple of years to get painted and she has asked repeatedly over the last two years for it to be redone. I keep telling her, "not till mommy paints her room!" That excuse is getting so old it just isn't cutting it anymore. I had already made one exception and I know that the other kids are not going to let that slide for very much longer.














When Hayden came along, There was no choice but to put  him in with Liam.



So, cut to last August. 
My boys all switched rooms when Ryan went off to college. It just made more sense to put the two younger boys in the bigger room and put Dylan in the smaller room.  I really hated the thoughts of painting over Biscuit. But, Dylan just wasn't having Biscuit on his walls. He was turning 16 at the end of August 2011 as Ryan was leaving for college and the "space" themed room that they had shared. He asked me to please paint the room before he took it over. He knew my room wasn't painted yet, but with his charm and blue eyes, he persuaded me to do this for him. It didn't take much. I wanted him to be happy with his new room and it would be the first time in his life he wouldn't have to share. I let him pick the color(s).  
At first I regretted this decision, as he choose deep purple, black and gold. I have to say now, that it is totally Dylan! He has a good eye for color.


I began painting the room for Dylan at the beginning of September. At first, things were going smoothly. Then, not so much.... The trouble began very late one night after we had gotten home from a day at "The Great New York State Fair". Glenn, me and the kids were very tired from a long, hot day at the fair. We all collapsed into bed and fell straight asleep. Or so I thought. Kyra decided she needed a shower to clean off the fair smut before she could sleep. When she came out of the bathroom at 1:30 am, she found Hayden in the hallway  covered in some unknown dark, tacky substance.  She immediately began screaming for me like a banshee! I shot out of bed to see what horrible thing had happened to her only to find poor Hayden cowering in a corner of the hall trying to hide from all the yelling. In my most motherly way, I asked her what the hell was wrong with her! She just points to Hayden. As I lean in to pick him up in the darkness, I can see that he is covered in something. My only thought at this point is that he had a bout of explosive diarrhea. Not unreasonable as he had been eating fair food all day. I grab him under the armpits and haul him into the tub. I turn on the water and start hosing him down. As I start to wake up a bit and come to my senses, I realize that he doesn't smell like shit, and we are still in the dark. I flick on the light switch and as my eyes adjust, I realize that Hayden is purple. What the????
I yell for Kyra who turns on the hallway light and sure enough.... purple paint is everywhere!
Apparently, Hayden thought he would help me finish painting Dylan's room. Like a little elf in the middle of the night. I would wake up in the morn and the room would be finished. None the wiser that he had done the job himself. I am sure that was his plan. What else could he have possibly been thinking?
The mess was overwhelming! How the hell did he get the lid I know I pounded on with a hammer, off the paint can?!! I had no idea where to start or how to clean it up. The walls in the hall that he touched, the carpet, the tub, the white doors?  I grabbed a wet rag and tried washing the purple off the doors. I was not planning a painting the doors. This was just too much trouble at 2 am. I decided to give up and go back to bed. Maybe it would all look better in the light of day.


Wrong.
It still looked B. A. D. We were not planning to remove the wall to wall, but it was the only option. No other choice but to paint the white doors and the trim. The worse part for me was Biscuit. I had negotiated with Dylan to leave the one Biscuit mural that was mostly behind the closet door on the wall. I didn't think this was too big a deal for him since for his new bed he choose a race car bed! What sixteen year old wants a race car bed?!?! A friend actually was getting rid of one that her 10 year old was finished with. It was red and Dylan wanted it black so I spray painted it black. I does look much cooler than I would have imagined.
I digress.  Hayden had finger painted all over the cute little Biscuit that I left for posterity.


Anyway, in the coming days, everything was repainted. Carpet ripped out and I installed a new laminate floor too.

 This week I finally started painting my bedroom. I decided to go with my gut. I will do a reveal in a future post. When it is all done. I hope I can keep Hayden from trying to "help" this time.




Dylan told me later that he paid Hayden to get rid of Biscuit for him. He probably loosened the lid for him and paid him in M&Ms!


Bye bye Biscuit.