When we started in the dining room, it immediately became apparent that we had different ideas of how to go about this painting project. We were discussing what the best way would be, and when Nick started laughing as he was taping upstairs, we realized that perhaps our voices had become slightly louder than necessary. I told Will that since Nick had overheard his father say that I was "wacko", he needed to correct this and tell Nick that actually I just had some perfectionist tendencies. (We of course believe it is essential to say only kind, uplifting things to and about each other, in front of the children at least.) It sounded heartwarmingly sincere when Will said, "Nick, your mother is not wacko, she just has perfectionist tendencies." Will had even extended his analysis of me to include a greatly admired older brother of mine, who Will believes has some similar perfectionist tendencies. He can tell me I'm just like my brother any time, I consider it a great compliment.
I think the world would be a better place if we all had a few more perfectionist tendencies. When we viewed our walls in the cold light of day Sunday, it was apparent that they needed a second coat. Will applied this and I touched up some trim areas that needed help. Sadly, today I spotted some more little missed spots. I like the color of the walls, but the paint job is far from perfect. Not Will's fault at all, most of the problems lie with the edges and trim areas which I mostly did. Grrr. And now that I have taken everything off the walls, I am reluctant to put most of it back up. It's been pretty much exactly the same since we moved here in 1996. Time for some change!
Nick was a great help. He really knows how to work. Poor child, several times the plaintive cry of "I wish I belonged to a normal family!" was heard echoing through the house. I'm not sure what he means by that.
He also gave us some good insight into the color, "Popular Gray". Will kept calling it "Everybody Loves Me Gray". Nick pointed out that popular does not mean everyone loves you, many "popular" kids are not liked by many people, they are just part of the "popular" crowd. Will still calls it "Everybody Loves Me Gray".
Nick is good with high places and figured out which gadget to use to get to some tricky places. When I was up there on Sunday catching a few missed spots, Will got to rescue me when I called out for him to come help before it became an emergency. He got there in the nick of time. I did not have the ladder secured as well as Nick did.
Will grumbled all day about the ceiling paint. Actually he got to grumble about it for three days, because that's how many days it took to get all the missed spots. The folks at Sherwin-Williams said it was the greatest paint ever because it goes on lavendar but dries "Dover White". The problem was that it faded very quickly and then looked just like the old ceiling paint until it was completely dry. When Will went back for another gallon, he at least got the satisfaction of expressing his opinion to the sales people there that it's just a gimmick. He loves to paint ceilings. Can't you just see the joy on his face!
If only we were done with the whole house! Nick and Will painted Nick's bedroom ("Blue Promise") during the week, Eric and Molly painted Eric's room Saturday ("Rendezvous". Yikes!) Just a few more rooms to go. Give us strength.
1 comment:
Be careful Will, I see perfectionist tendencies exuding from that determinded look in your eys and death grip on that stick. I'm not sure what is on the end of it. Hopefully its a paint roller and not the end of a broom. But realy Will, after looking at your painting, I think you could benifit from the infulunces of those that have perfectionest tendencies. My Goodness, such painting! Your poor family! No wonder your kids wish they could be part of a normal family! my, My, Poor thing!! Now I feel sorry for my dear sister. John
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