I don’t remember my crib whatsoever, but I do remember my friend’s crib.
When I was 4 I had a friend, Chuckie, also 4, who lived across the street with his mother and grandmother.
I had never been in his house, when one day my mother asked Chuckie’s mother if she would watch me for the day. Chuck and I played in his front yard until we were called in for lunch. We walked in and Chuckie climbed straight into a highchair next to the table. Whoa! I’m a big boy and hadn’t been in a highchair for a very long time, so that was a bit of a shocker.
After lunch, Chuckie’s mother said it was nap time, and walked us to a bedroom. The room was obviously a nursery… crib, changing table, rocking chair, etc. I was oblivious until she asked me to sit on the rocking chair as she lifted Chuckie onto the changing table and removed Chuckie’s corduroy jeans. Chuckie was wearing a diaper and plastic pants!!! She proceeded to change him and lifted him straight from the changing table to the crib. She then turned her attention to me and asked if I needed to be changed for nap time. I told her I wore big boy underwear, but needed to use the bathroom.
When I got back to the room, Chuckie’s mother had laid several blankets on the rug for me to sleep on. As I laid down she asked if I wanted a bottle and when I said no (!!?!) she told me to go to sleep and left the room. I looked over at Chuckie and he was laying there in his crib, in a diaper and striped shirt, sucking on a bottle with his eyes closed. That’s when I checked out his crib… medium brown wood with pastel lamb decals on the headboard and matching pastel balls along the top rails.
When I awoke from my nap, Chuckie had traded his bottle for a pacifier at some point while we were sleeping. A few minutes later his mother came in, saw that I was awake, woke Chuckie up, changed him again, and put his corduroy jeans and tennis shoes back on. She then pulled the pacifier from his mouth and told us to go outside and play.
After that, I noticed that most of his t-shirts had snaps on the shoulder and occasionally would spy his plastic pants barely sticking out in the back when we played together. I always wanted to be invited in to Chuckie’s house again, but that was the only time. We moved a short time after that. I still remember the extreme feelings of confusion and envy.