DIY, Please Don't Die

It was a beautiful day here in suburban Washington, D.C. The high, humid temperatures broke yesterday and today was mostly sunny and in the mid-80's.

Combined, my wife and I spent thirty minutes outside of our house.

Rather than take advantage of one of our final few weekends as a couple, we undertook a few things that we've been neglecting for a while: a wholesale clean of our home and setting up the nursery.

We did quite a number on the nursery, opening nearly all the gifts, de-tagging the tiny clothes, readying them for the wash, laughing at the books we'll have memorized in a few months and me...I built some things.

I am not a handyman. I'm not even a handy man. But it seems that all the baby furniture and accessories we bought (and are available) are DIY assembly. Talk about pressure to perform.

Beyond the fact that my future daughter's life is hanging in the balance of my craftsmanship on various swings and chairs, but the manufacturers do not make it any easier. Each book of instructions comes in about seven languages, with each step repeated in each language. Fortunately, each step comes illustrated. On a related note, it's great to see that M.C. Escher is getting work these days.

After only a few missteps and wrong turns, I was able to get the most intricate piece of furniture built. It's a swing, and a mobile, and a musicmaker, and a floor wax, and a dessert topping. After all the time I put into figuring out what goes where, reversing course and deciding what was supposed to go elsewhere, I'm hoping that my daughter will enjoy it for more than five minutes. Although, given that I built it, I'm just hoping that it lasts five minutes.