A not-so-Montessori inspired nursery.

I thought about Javi's nursery lots and lots while I was pregnant and when it came time to put it all together there were some elements of a typical Montessori nursery environment I chose to forego. The pictures of these types of nurseries are amazing. I see them and I'm fascinated by the love, care and imagination people put into these rooms and then I'm astonished at the amount of patience and trust they must have in their new baby. Honestly, I was scared to do most of these things! In the grand scheme of spaces, a Montessori nursery includes:

- a baby proof space

- child-size furniture

- low shelves

- floor bed

- mirror near the floor bed

- low hanging pictures

- a mobile above the bed

- natural elements (loud, bright, and/or plastic toys are generally not included)

The benefits of these attributes are evident when you see a baby in this type of environment. But for many reasons, not all these amazing things worked for me or my husband. I debated the floor bed, but ultimately decided that the comfort of knowing the baby would be in a safe (and confined) place should we need him to be in one, weighed out so we got a crib. This is not to say that I won't transition him to a floor bed in the near future.  But he happily goes into his crib; sometimes even playing in it while we shower or do something else we need to do. It's worth it for us. And I'm sure the cats appreciate this "safe" time, too, now that he's beginning to crawl. 

We don't have much child-size furniture, yet, because he doesn't really sit or anything. I do have a table and chair that I will put in his room once he can sit in it but right now it seems like it would just be taking up valuable space. The dresser was a must for practically reasons (where to put all those adorable baby clothes?!) so once he's truly on the move, we'll have to baby proof those drawers. He does have a great book area where he can reach and choose books independently. His mobile, when he used it, was in the living room because that's where we spent the most time.

And I chose to have a glider, because is there anything better than rocking a newborn/infant/baby/toddler (really any age!) to sleep? I don't think so. 

Ultimately what I viewed as practical weighed out when planning his nursery. And although, practicality is so clear to me when thinking in terms of 3-6 year olds (the age I teach), I was unsure, unconfident, and hesitant when looking at a space for the 0-3 age range. When I further get the hang of this thing called "parenting", and become equally as confident as this thing called "teaching" perhaps my mindset will grow.