The Katie Chronicles: Home Improvement Edition

Well, the good news is that we decided to tackle some house projects over the break. We — and by “we,” I mean mostly Jerome with assistance from Katie and me — got started this weekend with painting Katie’s room. I knew there’d by massive dust when we moved furniture that had been in place for years and I figured we’d also discover a variety of archeology finds under and behind things. Our dining room has become a staging area for all the things.

What I didn’t expect was how gross that room was. It’s amazing what you see when you get close to white wood trim in a kid’s room, although maybe “amazing” is the wrong word. I’m not sure exactly what she’s been doing in there. Surgery with dull instruments, maybe? Sword fighting? Running a bootleg slaughterhouse? When we moved the bed, we found...oh Lord, I can’t say it. There was a...oh boy...a secret booger collection on the wall that my lovely daughter claimed was from “when she was a baby.” 🤢 I’ll need to find a priest so I can go to confession later and purge my soul. Where did I go wrong, Jesus? Katie is paying penance by scrubbing that section of the wall — she volunteered! — and cleaning the the baseboards. (Those were just dirty, not booger-y).

Once I recovered from my booger-induced nausea, I was able to appreciate the cuteness of overhearing Rome answering Katie’s questions about painting and their general discussion about life. I love Daddy-daughter time, especially when it involves teaching baby girl a life skill. I’ve only had the occasional booger flashback. I’ll be all right.