When we started searching for a house to rent in Florence, we knew exactly what we wanted. A two bedroom house with a big enough kitchen and a nice outdoor space to hang out in. One of the bedrooms was suppose to be our office and the furniture and arrangements were already established. The moment we stepped foot inside this house, we knew it was ours and I surprised myself saying out loud: “This is it! I want this one!”; of course we had to convince the owners, but other than that everything was exactly as planned. One of the bedrooms was completely empty and waiting for our dream office to come true and the huge garden outside was waiting for us to try out its benches. I remember that after signing the contract, one of the owners said the empty room was perfect for a baby and I quickly disapproved: “No, we are not planning on having children; that room will be my office to write in.”
Well, what can I say, I found out a couple of weeks after we signed the contract that the room in question will be in fact the baby’s room and although we were not planning, it seems that she planned herself, so bye bye dream office and extra space. Ever since then, although I still love this house, I felt like it was smaller than I initially saw it. D has to contort himself, in a very uncomfortable armchair to work and I am writing in bed or on the balcony (I used to write in the garden sometimes, but my laptop battery decided not to have any life of its own anymore). We tried to look for new houses, but we never found one that met all of our conditions. Of course, now we are looking for that extra room and hoping that some day we will have our office (hopefully not when Ephia goes to college). To tell you the truth, the garden is the main reason I cannot leave this place and also all the firsts that Ephia had in this house. So, we might as well set an improvised desk on the balcony, even if I don’t think Thomas would agree (that’s his room hahaha).
The thing that made me think of all these was playing hide and seek with Ephia today. She ran all over the place, trying to find me and found new places to hide every time it was her turn. She made me see the house through her eyes while playing and I realized it’s huge for her. It has all this space and rooms available and for a small midget as her, it must be like a palace. It takes me two paces to get to the other bedroom, but it takes her like ten to do the same thing. So, why have a dream office when you can improvise and watch your daughter having the time of her life?
