Hope Chest

I crack up a little every time I read about this mysterious concept of the "layette" and the 57 items you should register for - or...not.  Automatically, my mind goes to Scarlett O'Hara thrilled by the prospect of Rhett bringing her some fancy undies from Paris for her trousseau.  This is more or less the same thing we're talking about here, except with an infant, right?  Some antiquated, once-served-it's-purpose ritual of stuffing a woman's hope chest with fabric? 

Speaking of, I have always wanted a hope chest of my own since watching the beloved Canadian Anne of Green Gables spin-off, "The Road to Avonlea," where there was an entire episode devoted to uncovering some elderly woman's secret past via the love letters she kept locked away in there.  Also, 1994's "Little Women" featured some excellent decoupage by the March sisters in their chests.  How hopelessly romantic!  It served as a safe space for young women to store their hopes and dreams for an uncertain future, as well as family heirlooms handed down from generations past.  Hope chests saw women from birth to girlhood, bride to mother.  Though the tradition has its root in the worth-her-weight-in-gold dowry bids of he Italian Renaissance, I prefer to take from it the symbolism of a girl's sacred space where no one else can pry into her private world.  Besides, we could all use a dose of romanticism in this digital age and I'm for feminist reclaiming of outmoded practices.

I guess I do have a cedar chest that currently houses all of my American Girl Doll clothes and accessories.  It's stashed in the guest room at New Hope, waiting for tiny hands to go searching through the entire Felicity wardrobe and realize that it would have been terrible to be a colonial girl.  So many layers!  In Williamsburg!  In the summer!  But that cardinal red cape was quite the statement piece and I coveted the me-sized version.  Instead, I wore the "Meet Felicity" bodice and skirt proudly to all manner of school presentations and in several plays, complete with two different styles of bonnets.  I think I also had the nightgown which I recall was flannel and excessively thermal, even in winter (bed warmer not included.)

Maybe one day PB will be permitted to choose the color she wishes to paint or stain the chest and she can practice her decoupage skills - or...not.  I'm guessing a daughter of mine will have some grand ideas but totally lack the craftiness to see them through.  It's ok, kid.  Leave the crafting to others.  You'll discover some special gift of your own and then you can make enough money to pay someone to make things for you.  Then again, she could totally surprise use with her artisan skills and set up and Etsy shop by the age of 10. 

As I'm building our baby registry - which I must admit, I have general mixed feelings about, much as I did the notion of a wedding registry (I'm not one for asking for material items from others but I can see that people love to buy baby things) - I suppose I am treating the entire nursery as a type of hope chest for our daughter who may be nothing like the tiny person we have individually crafted in our brains.  She may resemble one of us, or neither, or mix the best of both.  She may have a calm, collected temperament or she could be a tempestuous force of nature.  We have no idea.  It's quite fun to imagine an immediate future where we strip away some of these variables and allow our figment daughter's personality to take shape through the items we purchase for her and for her future bedroom. 

Rational me knows that babies can only see up to 10 inches in front of their faces after birth.  She  isn't going to notice the color scheme or the thematic chevron pattern which was painstakingly selected to be neutral and graphic.  She won't know if she's wearing pink or gray or orange.  Heck, she won't even sleep in her crib for the first month or more, but it's all here, waiting for her.  So much of who she will be has yet to be discovered and I can enjoy the next 3 months leading up to her birth making guesses to pass the time but expecting nothing but to love her.  And also that she is crafty - please, please be crafty.