The Couch Saga

It is time that the couch saga was told. Granted that doesn't make it any more interesting than it is. So read on if you really care about the adventures of the Cazier furniture.

Many years ago, we were given a sleeper couch by neighbors (thank you Hadlock's). The couch served us well for quite some time. It wasn't the prettiest thing, but I found a slip cover that worked well. However, the slip cover was a beast to put on, so if the kids spilled something, I was faced with washing it and tucking it all in again. I didn't really enjoy the process.

Then, one fateful day, Robyn peed on the couch. (This was bound to happen at some point, so I wasn't really upset.) We dutifully washed the cushion, but cleaning it somehow brought out all these delightful odors that had been hiding inside. The cushion was never the same; meaning I couldn't even have it in the house because it stank so badly.

And so the couch had only one cushion and still the slip cover that I didn't enjoy using and that now fit oddly minus the defiled cushion. It was definitely time for a new couch. And yet, we still went almost a year with the one-cushioned couch. (I guess you just make do with what you have.)

Finally last September, we decided to go couch shopping again. We had gone earlier in the year but hadn't found anything we loved. This time around, we found something that we thought would be a good couch. We ordered and waited and right before Halloween, we had a new plush sofa for our long-waiting tushies.

And thus began my mantra : I love my children more than material possessions...I love my children more than this couch. I knew it was only a matter of time before something happened to the couch and I wanted to prepare myself. Little did I know how soon things would happen.

It didn't help that the couch came with a hole in the back. We called the company right away but they said we would have to wait for another six weeks to get another base to the couch. Fine, we still had a couch to sit on in the meantime. We just covered the back with some plastic so little fingers would not be tempted to make a small hole bigger.

Two weeks later, June managed to accidentally color with marker on the couch. (Not much, just a green streak.)



After repeating my mantra to myself multiple times, I scrubbed the couch down and it was as good as new, but I may have had some words with my oldest child. (Seriously, I expect Daisy to destroy something daily, but why June had an open marker even NEAR the couch was beyond me.) We reiterated the rules:

No food on the couch

No drawing implements of any kind on the couch

No peeing on the couch (This one seems like it should be obvious, right?)

A month later, Robyn peed on the couch. It was such a sad thing. She was in the hardly-ever-wet-the-bed-anymore stage. We had separated the girls so they could fall asleep faster and Robyn was still down sleeping on the couch. It was getting late and I told Tyler (jokingly) that we should get Robyn off the couch before she peed on it. (ha ha) He went downstairs and she was sitting straight up on the couch sobbing in warm pee. We probably missed it by minutes. Regardless, she was scared to death and so sorry. I didn't scold her even a bit because she is my sensitive child who already knew that the last cushion was done in by her; she hardly needed a complex. Chanting my mantra once again to myself, I eased her worries and tucked her into bed while Tyler cleaned the couch. Fortunately there were no hidden odors in the cushion and it was very salvageable.

We haven't had any other mishaps with the couch since. The new base came in, with no hole. There was still an issue about two throw pillows that had not been included, but I wrote them off as not worth fighting about. Amazingly, the pillows came in last month and we went to pick them up this weekend. The store was having a huge sale: EVERYTHING 70% OFF. As we walked through Robyn quickly spotted 'our' couch and identified the hole in the back. I was surprised to see that it was being sold for $400.00 more than we paid for it. WITH THE HOLE, AND 70% OFF!! Seriously, can you ever trust retail people? I decided that browsing the store for good deals was pointless so we got our two pillows and quickly exited.

And so ends the saga (for now). I still have small children and it would be beyond hope to think that this couch could handle five girls and keep the 'new' look, but for now I am very happy with our addition and I will keep chanting the mantra to myself. For after all, a couch is made to be cuddled on, made to be used, made to be read on, possibly eaten on (after a year or so), and certainly made to be lived on. And every single one of the culprits who might draw, spill, or pee on my couch is certainly worth more than a few down-cushions and a wooden frame.