Sigh

[Bruce Page]

My daughter called a few days ago and asked me if I would take her cradle apart. I made this for her 9 years ago for her first born and between my two daughters it has had 4 kids through it. Both daughters say their baby making days are over so now it will wait for our future great grandchildren. Kind of sad for me.

Here’s a pic of it when it was new and one from today.

[Larry Edgerton]

I'm making a crib now for one of my daughters just as the last crib for my granddaughter is no longer needed. My granddaughter uses it for her dolls now.

So..... this one is for a grandson, and I am making it so that it will be a so-so looking crib but a great looking full size bed. That way the little rascal can get a few more years out of it.

Nice cradle by the way, make a nice decoration until the need arises.....

Larry

[Gary Herrmann]

Bruce, it's a beautiful cradle. You got to see grandbabies in it. Hopefully, you'll get to see their babies in it.

You know your daughters treasure that cradle. Be proud of them and what you built.

[Van Huskey]

You will be reassembling it for great grands soon enough! They grow up so fast.




PS I obviously didn't mean that in any other way other than time flys!

PPS the cradle is gorgeous!

[Steve Kohn]

Store it very carefully, it's a family heirloom now.

I built a crib for my youngest child. He grew out of it and we took it apart and put it up in the attic of the garage. It was 15 years later that my daughter called with the news that she was going to be the next one to have a child, and asked if I could put together the crib. I was overjoyed until I pulled it down. Over the 15 years in storage mice had gotten to it and chewed some of the wood fairly extensively. It was probably repairable but my wife wanted nothing to do with putting our first grandchild in a crib that had been chewed by mice. So I burned it and immediately started building another, and better crib. That newer and better crib is still in use 5 years later when the first grandchild was succeeded by another. I've also now had to build another crib for my son. Each crib was different and special.

[frank shic]

that's a great looking crib, bruce. i can't wait until i get to that point in life but i'm in NO RUSH

[Jim Matthews]

Yours is in much better condition than mine.

My boys practically chewed through the top rail, when they started teething.
We've progressed to crayons on the walls. Their bedrooms look like the Lascaux caves...with robots and monster trucks.

[Sid Matheny]

Looks like a great cradle but not to worry time really does fly as we just had our first great grandson a couple of months ago. Really makes you set back and think!

Sid

[Carl Beckett]

Great cradle Bruce!

Enjoy these life moments, however melancholy they may feel - it is a life transition to be treasured.

Next they will be needing bunk beds and desks for their rooms, and with the blink of an eye it will be college dorm bookcases quickly followed by wanting to use the cradle again. (yikes!). Wrap it up nice - nobody has forgotten about it and two, three generations down the road they will still be passing it around as needed.

I like to write a few comments on a note (what you were thinking about while making it - anticipation of that particular child, or other memories/thoughts in the moment), and attach these notes to it while stored. (and be sure you have your initials or signature on it somewhere). A few generations from now they will get a kick out of reading these notes (this is what your great great grandfather was thinking when he built this cradle.....)

Im kinda chuckling about the position that their baby making days are over. I drew the line at 3. If left to my mother, I would have about.... 10 or more! Oh how quickly we forget (but my mother was pretty clear all along that the main reason to have children was to get to grandchildren, and I was slaking on this for many years).

[Bruce Page]

Thanks everyone. Carl, melancholy is a good word to describe how I feel. Knowing that we won’t again experience the thrill of a new grandchild coming into the fold is sad for my wife & me. I have had a few life transitions in the last few years from retirement to house keeper - LOML is going to work a few more years.
On the bright side, my daughter is going to take the cradle to one of those Pack & Ship places and have a custom box made for it.