When Emma's best friend, Kaylee, had
stripped her room of princess decorations and replaced them with all
kinds of sick items, Kaylee's room turned into the coolest place ever!
All of their friends would meet up at Kaylee's house and chill in her
room. She had a door bell, lava lamp and even a little disco ball.
Polk-a-dots were everywhere; on her bedspread, walls, ceiling and she
even had peal-n-stick spots on her window, making it the perfect "spot"
to hang out.
Emma's room was babyish and had usually been a disaster.
When Kaylee was over at Emma's house this past summer, Emma had
avoided hanging out in her room, knowing how inferior it was to
Kaylee's. Emma tried her hardest to make everything outside of her room
seem more interesting. She didn't feel like doing it, but she insisted
on throwing a softball around in her back yard. The last thing she had
wanted was for Kaylee to walk into her room and think that she was a
slob, or even worse, a baby with her My Little Pony bed covering.
Her
efforts had been for nothing when a freakish summer flash flood had
singled out her house and Emma's mom had insisted the girls do
something indoors...in Emma's room. Emma had tried to think of other
options but she couldn't change her mom's mind without looking
desperate for no good reason. With a cringe Emma had lead Kaylee into
her kindergarten-style room. A painting of Elmo over her bed had never
looked more awkward in all her life. Kaylee had jokingly said that
she felt like a pony was about to eat her bottom as she sat on Emma's
bed. They had both laughed, but Emma really felt like crying.
After
Kaylee had left, Emma had what her mom likes to refer to as a
teen-centered emotional breakdown. "Mom, I can't believe you made me
sit in my room with Kaylee! Why couldn't we have just played Minecraft
on your computer in the kitchen?"
"Emma,
you know you didn't have any computer time left," Emma's mom had
patiently said while pointing to their earning chart on the
refrigerator, "I'm not going to change the rules just because Kaylee is
over."
"But mom! It was like
showing up to school in my underwear, having to walk Kaylee into my
plain, white-walled room with clothes scattered around and embarrassing
pictures of my naked two-year-old body in the bathtub displayed like
a..." Emma had struggle for the right word, "...like an award, framed
and on my dresser. I hate my room, it makes me look like a nerdy kid
who can't grow up."
"Would you like to change your room?"
"YES!" Emma's heart had filled with hope.
"Okay,
if you can keep it clean for a whole month then we will give it a make
over." Her mom's words had dampened Emma's hope, how could she do
that? "As for Kaylee, she has been your friend for years and I don't
think she sees you as a nerdy kid who can't grow up just because your
walls are white and you have some memorabilia displayed."
Emma
didn't think her mom had understood. She hadn't asked Kaylee to come to
her house for the rest of the summer. But now she wanted to create an
opportunity to casually inform Kaylee that she too had stylish ideas
and that they were about to be set free.
Although
Emma's room was still lacking style, it had been clean for over a
month and she had been dying to redeem herself after Kaylee's last
visit over the summer! Emma couldn't wait to show Kaylee her bedroom and
give her the exciting news.
This morning Emma had made her bed
but carefully flipped her bed covering over so that the pink cartoon
pony was prancing out of sight. She had looked around at her babyish
room but this time she was not as embarrassed. Kaylee had been
bothering her about coming over, Emma thought of every excuse in the
book, waiting for just the right moment where she could truly redeem
herself.
The time had arrived. They were well into the new
school year and Emma finally asked Kaylee to come over. There they
were, heading up the stairs towards Emma's room.
As Emma and Kaylee walked into her room, Emma watched Kaylee for any sort of reaction.
"Emma, your room is clean!" Kaylee said.
"I
know, I was really busy last time you were here and that is why it was
so messy." Emma knew Kaylee could see she was fibbing.
"It
was summer the last time I was here," Kaylee interrupted, "you're more
busy now with all the softball games you have every single weekend. We
barely found time for me to come over today because you are always at
practices."
"Okay, the truth
is I wanted to redo my room. It was not really reflecting my stage of
life or my personality. My parents informed me that I couldn't do any
major make over until I could first prove to keep my room in order. I
guess leaving a few socks on the ground turns it into a pigsty, and if I
don't make my bed it's like a tornado just hit."
Finally, Emma got to say it without saying it...I'm not a slob and this room does not reflect who I am!
"I know what you mean." Kaylee responded.
What? Kaylee could relate?
Kaylee
continued, "My mom gets on me just because I take off my socks at night
while I'm sleeping but in the morning I forget they are under the
covers and I just make my bed right over top of them."
Emma
laughed like she understood completely but was secretly thankful Kaylee
had never seen the pile of clothes that used to reside on the other
side of Emma's bed. Last time Kaylee was over she had skillfully
covered the pile with her grandmother's quilt, the one made from all of
Emma's old baby clothes. Thank goodness Kaylee had never wondered what
was under the quilt that rose higher than her mattress. Emma had kept
Kaylee focused on their last school yearbook, making constant comments
about pictures and events.
Kaylee
went on, "I kick my socks off in my sleep all week and when my mom is
taking my sheets off to wash them she's like, 'Kaylee, why on earth are
there a pile of dirty socks under your covers?'"
It was nice to hear that Kaylee had bad habits too. "Socks piled under your covers, that's hilarious." Emma said.
"Yea. I tell my mom that I'm half asleep, I don't know what I'm doing."
"Me
too," Emma agreed, "I mean I wasn't half asleep but I tried to tell my
mom my side too! At first I was like, 'This is my room. I should be
able to keep it the way I want.' So I didn't make any effort to change
my 'bad habits.' Why would I make my bed just to show off a My Little
Pony bedspread?"
Emma
lifted part of her bedspread to reveal the butt-eating pony hiding on
the underside and made some eating sounds. Emma and Kaylee burst out in
laughter as Kaylee pretended to be scared of the pony.
"Seriously
Emma, when I came into your room over the summer I was a little jealous
that your mom didn't make you spend hours cleaning your room."
Emma
felt a relief come over her, Kaylee had not judged her. Emma continued
talking as she put the pony back in it's place. "Well, I figured that
at some point my parents would see that I am a grown teen now and would
have to support that. After a few days of standing my ground I casually
brought it up at dinner, I just said, 'You know, a fresh coat of paint
would really clean up my room.'"
"What did they say?" Kaylee asked.
"Mom casually responded, 'Paint has nothing to do with keeping your room clean.'"
"Awe, she's good!"
"I
know!" Emma agreed, "Maybe she doesn't make me clean my room but she
sure does know how to guilt me about it being messy. Summer was almost
over and I just couldn't see myself cleaning up after a tornado so I
said, 'Mom, can't I keep my room as tidy as my personality? You know
the personality that would rather get her homework done?'"
Kaylee laughed, "Good one," which gave Emma the green light to continue with her story.
"My
mom didn't even skip a beat, she's like, 'It's time to grow up Emma.
You can't ask for teenager privileges without being willing to
demonstrate the responsibilities that come with them,' and I was like,
'If making my bed every single day and keeping clothes off the ground is
growing up, then I won't grow up! I'll just stay the way I am and at
the same time I want a room that reflects my mature age!"
Kaylee's
laughter tapered off as she thought about what Emma just said. She
just stared at Emma, confused. "That makes no sense. How are you going
to get a new room if you don't want to grow up?"
"I
know," Emma quickly said, thinking of a way to redeem herself. "Right
when it came out of my mouth I thought the same thing. You sound like
an idiot! My dad couldn't let my lame statement just slide, 'Honey," he
said, "you got it!"
Kaylee
looked satisfied with Emma's answer. Emma sat down on her bed and
looked around. "Yea, he was right. I wanted a room that reflected my
maturity and in that moment I realized that I had a room that reflected
my maturity."
"So what did you do?" Kaylee asked.
"It
turns out that picking up after myself and pulling my covers up every
morning was not so hard." Emma said, "In fact, I started to care about
what was out of place in my room. After my brother, Conner, borrowed my
book the other day I asked him to put it back in the right place and
not just throw it on my bed..and that's something my mom would say!"
"Yea
it is! It's annoying but it's probably good my mom makes me clean my
room." Kaylee said, "I need to just check under my covers for socks
before I make my bed in the morning. The socks make it look like my
covers are all squished down there."
Emma
chuckled but continued on so she could get to what she really wanted to
say. "So last weekend my parents came to me and let me know that I had
been doing a great job in keeping my room all tidy... yada yada yada...
and went on about how a child talks like a child, thinks like a child
and reasons like a child... blah blah blah... and that they were proud
to see me maturing, and putting my childhood ways behind me, and so
on..."
Emma trailed off and
almost forgot that she was trying to impress Kaylee. At that moment she
realized a mature change had taken place. She didn't need to act like
she was just as put together as Kaylee, she really was just as put
together as Kaylee and even more so maybe. Emma realized that she
didn't have socks hiding anywhere, like under the covers. She realized
that didn't have a clean room because her mom made her clean it, she had
a clean room because she wanted it that way.
"It
felt sorta good to hear it," Emma said as if she was talking to herself
more than she was to Kaylee. "It was nice, making them proud of me
like that. I guess I will grow up."
Emma
looked at her bookshelf with all of her books in line. She thought
about the day her softball game was canceled and she had spent all day
straightening her room. She had found some of her favorite books hiding
under her bed. One book she had gotten at the beginning of the summer
and she found it still in the bag it came in. She had been looking
forward to reading that book all summer and had forgotten where she put
it. The summer had passed and she didn't even get to open it.
Yesterday she didn't have much homework and when her mom said to go read
in her room, there it was on the shelf, standing straight up in perfect
view with all of her other books. She didn't have to search for it or
settle for a book she really didn't care to read. She read for 70
minutes straight and had a hard time putting it down when Conner had
peeked in and said, "Mom says dinner is ready." How's that for a reward
for having a clean room, where she can find whatever she wants in two
seconds flat!
"Emma." Kaylee's words brought Emma back to earth.
"Sorry,"
Emma remembered what it was she wanted to announce to Kaylee for almost
a week, "what I'm trying to say is I'm old enough to say that I'm a
teenager, and apparently I'm also mature enough for a new bedspread and a
fresh coat of paint! Yes, that's right, this weekend I only have one
softball game and it's really early in the morning so we are going to
give my room a real teenager make-over!"
Emma
jumped off the bed and grabbed Kaylee's hands to cheer. Kaylee did not
miss a beat in the excitement of getting a bedroom make-over. They
both jumped around in circles.
"I love bedroom make-overs!" Kaylee shouted, "What are you going to do to your walls?"
"I think I'll go black, with white stripes. Or maybe white with black stripes. "
"What? How are those different?" Kaylee said playfully, she caught the humor of Emma's statement and it made Emma feel great.
"Either way, I know it's going to be slick and clean!" Emma said.
"For sure! We should make a design, that's what I did when I came up with my room's theme."
For
the rest of the afternoon Emma and Kaylee huddled around Emma's iPad
looking for inspirational pictures to design her new grown-up teenager
room. Emma was super excited, she thought that maybe, just maybe, her
room would end up being a hang-out "spot" as well.
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