household projects: pimping things (cars and heads)

A point of clarification, before you read this post. When I say "pimping", I am referring to the notion of "pimpin' one's ride", or "adorning something with bling to make it fancy". I am not referring to the criminal act of facilitating the sale of sex. Cam thought I should make this distinction since, as he put it, "some old people read the blog."

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The theme around our home today has been pimping things. It isn't that we're so bored that we have to find things to do around the house. On the contrary, we had a busy week and weekend in Washington visiting family, and I have a list of projects I would like to get done around the house. (Many of these projects involve the lovely fabric I purchased while in Washington, and part of the pimping process did involve this fabric). However, there are certain tasks that present themselves that demand priority level action. One such thing is pimping a toddler's ride.

Needs new tags...

Bennett has this sweet ride that he got from his Nana for his first birthday. It has it all and it does it all... except look cool. It has horns, a keyboard, a bumpin' stereo system (that Bennett always turns on as background music while he shoots hoops), hidden compartments, a handle for pushin' and pullin', and a nice comfortable seat for chillin'. It became clear to us very early on that Bennett's aesthetic tastes weren't going to be satisfied with the cheesy childish decals, and neither were ours. Bennett wanted something different, something edgy, and we steered him in the direction of bohemian-esque sticker-covered van.

We got the first sticker (pictured above) at Cam's cousin's show when they were in Portland. It fits the back-end perfectly, and because it has the word "damn" on it (from the name of the band), it gives the car an edge that says "Don't tailgate me" without really needing to say it. 

So as not to be cornered into any one stereotype, however, the stickers that we purchased this weekend send a different message. The car's second sticker (picked out by me) is the word "LOVE".   It says "I'm a free spirit. See the sun and moon? The bright colors? The psychedelic patterns? Yeah, free spirit here." The free spirit element gives a softness to the car and reveals Bennett to be the kind of driver that he is: kind, courteous, stops at cross-walks for pedestrians and doesn't get mad at cyclists when they break the law. It says to other drivers, "So maybe you did tailgate me... but I love you anyways."

The car's third sticker (picked out by Cam) is this chillin' penguin. This is classic Cam because he loves penguins, and he loves to chill. This sticker is located on the seat, under Bennett's tiny little tushy. It doesn't send a message to other drivers; rather, it is a reminder to Bennett that when behind the wheel, it is important to chill, to relax, to stay loose. We feel it's crucial if he is going to be driving that he remain grounded in the life principles that are important and not allow himself to get lost in a world of road-rage. I'm fairly confident that every time he sits on his car's seat now, he looks at that sticker, takes a deep breath, and enjoys the moment. There's room on the other side of the seat for another sticker, maybe one about skiing or kayaking. Together, they would say "I'm relaxed, but I also like adrenaline." A yin-yang sort of thing, see.

Bennett's car is a work in progress. We will probably still be putting stickers on it long after he's done playing with it. And sure. Maybe the car, as a whole, also says, "I have two at-home parents with creativity seeping out of their pours and with plenty of time on their hands." We're okay with that.

B's car wasn't the only thing getting adorned this weekend. In the world of real projects, I've been working on some sewing. Right now I just sew by hand. I find the process to be very cathartic and relaxing. This was the first of three head-band designs I've got floating around in my brain. It didn't work out so well, but that's sort of expected when you're just making stuff up as you go. Making stuff up as I go rarely works out for me, but that doesn't stop me from continually doing it. Next I plan to make a table-cloth to fit our tiny kitchen table, some throw pillows for all four couches, a couple tops, and maybe a skirt or two. Most likely, I will end up ruining a whole lot of beautiful fabric (on account of that whole "making it up as I go" habit) and then using it for dish rags or cloth wipes. But hey, if that happens, those will be some really lovely dish rags and cloth wipes.

I wore this head-band to church this morning, and though it's just a basic head-band, I half expected someone (most likely a stranger, because we don't go to church very often) gasp, "What ARE you wearing on your head? That is the most hideous head-ornament I have ever seen! Take it off! You're scaring the children." And I was prepared to say, "I know. Isn't it awful? My sister made it for me and I'm going to see her later so I felt I had to wear it." Those are both lies, but there are certain times (like this one) where lying is acceptable, right? Lucky for me (and Cam, who blushes even at the prospect of lying), I didn't have to lie because no one said anything about my head-band. I guess that means I can wear it again sometime, and also that I will only need forgiveness for thinking about lying, since I didn't actually end up doing it.

The ultimate day in pimping things is going to come if I can ever get Bennett to wear the head-band while on his hot ride. Don't get your hopes up though, because that isn't likely to ever happen.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post, where I tell the harrowing tale from this weekend of being discriminated against for having dreads.