Don't Pave Paradise to Put Up a Parking Lot

Just below the surface of plush carpets, delicate china, and tidy rooms lies the basement, “the other world,” - a place belonging to children with its cement floors for roller skating, gray metal poles for shinnying, and exposed-joist ceilings where you can hang swings. A parallel universe where upstairs rules don’t apply. Parents open the door only to announce mealtimes or to toss down a toy that spun beyond the borders.

Why are we in such a hurry to fix up the basement so we can park ourselves in front of the big-screen TV? An unfinished basement is a beautiful thing - where no one minds if you spill paint or nail sheets and cardboard from the ceiling to make a fun-house maze; where Tarzan can swing from a rope and jump on old mattresses; where plastic swimming pools are filled with sand or beans. Consider what you could be losing before you pave paradise to put up a parking lot.

Cardboard Town

My sister and I made tunnels and houses out of refrigerator boxes spread all over the basement. It kept the neighbor kids and us busy for weeks planning and decorating our cardboard boxes.  It all culminated in a mega slumber party in our little cardboard town.

Playing Elevator in the Closet

Kids love small spaces. I used to play elevator in the closet, pushing all the coats to one side. Every 10 minutes or so my mom would come by asking for a lift to the second floor.

Loving You like a Sister

My daughter is an only child and I wanted her to have a sister like I do, so we turned out-of-state cousins into sisters by having the kids spend a big part of the summer together, vacationing throughout the year together and by paying for unlimited long distance on our phone so Emily, Elaine and Meg could watch cartoons ear to ear on Saturday mornings.