Cot Building 101

Christmas is fast approaching and according to Sharon it’s not just the Christmas tree that needs to be put up this year. Enter the cot.

The day began with a quick visit to my mom’s house where the cot was being stored (having traveled from Richards Bay). After loading it into the boot we quickly realised that although we had all the wood, we had no screws/brackets/anything else that may be needed to join the wood into something safe for a baby to sleep in.

So off we headed to Builder’s Warehouse to try and find the appropriate pieces. Amazingly we ran into John and Sally, and soon the four of us were surrounding the boot of my Jeep trying to figure out just how the cot worked. For some strange reason the outside holes were smaller than the inside holes?! Something that none of us could quite explain.

Eventually we headed home with various options and got down to work. The chosen solution was wall plugs in the bigger inside holes to make them the same size as the outside holes. This did however mean another visit to the store to get enough of them to finish the job.

I then set about building the cot in the lounge. All was going well and I was feeling rather ‘Tim the Tool Man Taylor’ when I realised that it may be tricky getting it into the room erect. Sadly I was correct and no matter which angle we tilted it at it wouldn’t fit through the door. Memories of episodes of Friends came running back to me…”Pivot…pivot…PIVOT!”

After unscrewing the cot we moved the pieces into the babies room and repeated the process. During the second construction I noticed a sticker on the base saying, “this side up”. Looking at the shape of the base I decided that the sticker had been moved and continued with the sticker pointing down.

With the cot completed and looking great we moved it into the corner and put in the mattress. It didn’t fit. We needed to turn the base over. The sticker was correct.

Once again I took the cot apart and then built it for the third time, feeling a little less ‘Tim the Tool Man Taylor’.

Finally finished we moved around the rest of the furniture and started putting baby girl Prior’s clothes, bottles, dummies and other nic nacs into their new homes.

I must admit, it looks and feels great having the nursery come together. Only 3 more months until we get to meet our little girl.