それは素晴らしいアイディアだ (Sore wa subarashii aidia da)

Remember how excited we were when we first moved into this apartment? Man... re-reading that post got me all disoriented. Feels like it was written in another life time! Oh wait! It was another life: a childless one. Back then, all we wanted was a cool-looking place to live. A lofty rooftop add-on with a fake marble fire place and a big patio with no shade was a gem, a rare find, a score!

Three months later, we had to make changes to our living arrangement because I was pregnant, but we were still able to make it work. It's hot in the summer? Turn the AC on. All the plants on the patio were taken away because of some bullshit power struggle in the neighborhood? Let's put up an inflatable pool now that we've got the space. Mosquitoes? Don't worry! There's nothing a powerful mosquito zapper can't take care of. It wasn't perfect, but it was manageable.

Then a little short of a year ago, we brought the baby home and instantly the apartment became a crap hole. The heat becomes more unbearable when you see your own baby dripping sweat in the middle of the night. You feel... okay, I feel, like nuclear-bombing mosquitoes into extinction. We almost never go out to the patio anymore because it's just too hot and there's no shade. There are sharp edges everywhere, and the tile floor is cold and hard! And we have ants -- armies of ants. What were we thinking when we decided to take this apartment?

I look at our furniture and think (again), "What were we thinking?" It's all IKEA, which is pretty much a synonym for "childless". Every item we own is light and thin. And there are a lot of shelves. Open shelves with no doors. Not good for a curious 9-month-old who's trying to pull himself up on everything he touches and wants to touch everything. We have a white couch and a chair that the seat covers are dry clean only (Again. What were we thinking?) Our once "open, airy" kitchen has become a danger zone. The walls are lined with stainless steel shelves with no doors. Everything is on display, which also means anything can easily fall off the shelves and hit Kai on the head. The wooden IKEA kitchen island that we kind of doubles as a bar has lost its charm because Kai can easily crawl over there, grab and smash a wine glass on the floor (he hasn't done it, but it's totally possible). Or maybe he would try to pull himself up with it and a bottle of Tequila would knock him out cold (and not from drinking it either). Even with Kai in my arms, the kitchen is not a safe place to be. Those authentic ceramic or clay fridge magnets we brought back from our trips to SE Asia are within Kai's reach and he WANTS to touch them. So far, two have fallen and chipped. Bags of chips, tea pots, salt shakers, spice bottles are all targets of interest and Kai can't wait to put his wiggly fingers on them.

I'm sure we'll be looking at our next apartment from a whole new perspective. Just the thought that Kai will be able to walk by the time we come back from the trip to North America gives me the heebie-jeebies.

A-ha! I just had a light bulb moment! We should totally go Japanese. In other words, stay close to the floor and go complete minimalist. We'll have nothing but bean bags on Tatami mats! Maybe a big short round coffee table in the middle of the room.

That's a great idea (and that's what the title of this post means in English)!! :-)