A few days ago, Violet got a splinter (from the playroom floor) in her foot. I have long predicted this event and as of late saw reason to believe it would happen soon. Aaron never walks around barefoot and was convinced that all our floors needed was a little love and a good sealer. I have always known better, but allowed nature to do my nagging for me.
But, back to the splinter. I was not made aware of the injury when it occurred. I was at the grocery store and Aaron chose to keep it from me, believing that I would force him to rob a bank for carpet money. What Aaron hadn't counted on was the weight of omitting this fact from our conversations. He thought about it, a lot. Violet was really upset about the whole thing. He knew that something had to be done and forcing Violet to wear shoes all the time was not the solution, especially given my long held stance on removing shoes while laying around the house. I was not told about the traumatic splinter until we were half-way through installing $400 worth of carpet on our own. My husband is a master of this kind of confessional, the point-of-no-return gut spill. He knew that telling me when he was agonizing over whether or not to accept his mother's financial help would lead to a fight. He knew that admitting to our child's grievous injury while I struggled to control her in the Lowe's parking lot would cause a major marital episode. Telling me while I held my breath in the passenger seat of a Ford Escape carrying two 15 foot rolls of carpet on a luggage rack that had heretofore only been decorative, was also not a good idea. So, he told me after Violet was safely in bed and the first roll had been successfully unfurled in the playroom. I guess, he wanted to make the decision free and clear, without any chance that my input would cloud the legacy of his valiant, first-time carpet installation. I say valiant without a touch of irony. Aaron not only wrangled two enormous rolls of carpet with nothing more than his wife, his mother and a cheap carpet knife, but he also did it in the throes of a major migraine episode. We were in too deep when the cloud descended over his head and he had no choice but to just keep going. Aaron got the carpet home and then took an hour nap before diving into installing it. With our feeble assistance he managed to lay down 450 square feet of carpeting with no prior experience and a splitting headache. The only guidance he had came from his mother who had recently watched carpet being installed in her own home.
The entire operation took less than 8 hours. In the morning before going to work (because he had no time to call off) he reassembled the entertainment center and both computers, leaving me to fart around with books, toys and knick knacks. One tiny sliver of wood in one tiny foot helped give Aaron the motivation to take on a task we thought was out of our reach. We could never have afforded to pay someone to do this for us. Violet's influence over her Daddy is startling. I will try not to turn her into my own, personal household lobbyist.
13 hours ago
