It is way past time for our La-Z-Boy to go … somewhere else besides our family room. The boys and I are behind this decision 100 percent, but Ron is still in denial.
For almost our entire marriage (That’s 19-plus years), Ron has had his own chair, an oversized recliner that makes him feel like he is truly the king of our castle.
My parents are to blame for giving him that first La-Z-Boy, way back when we were newlyweds. It followed us to about three duty stations and finally gave out around the time Ronnie was born in 1999.
No recliner since has lasted as long, and you can probably guess the reason. As the boys got older, the lifespan of each chair dwindled.
The one we have now is still in good shape and probably has a year or two left before it begins to fall apart. Its condition has nothing to do with the reason I want it out of the family room.
The reason it has to go is that there is no longer room for our family in the family room. That king-sized recliner takes up so much space that the only other furniture we can squeeze in there is our couch.
A couch and a recliner was enough furniture for newlyweds and even for a couple with three small children. It was enough in Pennsylvania where the house was always cold and we needed all the body heat we could get.
But for three years now, we’ve been bumping one of the boys onto the floor every time the entire family gathers to watch TV. And now, the boys have grown so much that it isn’t comfortable to squeeze onto the couch with two of them. I always end up with somebody’s wiggling feet in my face!
The reason we have made it this long is that since I started taking classes last winter, I hardly ever have time to watch TV with the rest of the family.
Now that we have purchased the house, Ron must face the reality that it isn’t fair for him to take up half the living room with his giant chair.
The only solution is to find another couch, probably a "love seat," to go where the monster chair now sits. It should definitely increase some of the love in our family, as Ron will finally have to sit beside the rest of us.
He sort of panicked when I went furniture shopping on the first day of summer vacation. "Let’s not be hasty," he said. But how can anything I do at this point in time be considered hasty?
I need to just go out and do it: buy something comfy and practical that can fit into our family room and still allow us to get in and out.
One of those long, wraparound couches would be perfect, but that would block one of the entrances to the room.
I know exactly what the boys’ solution to that problem would be. Instead of walking around to the other side, they would take a running leap over the back of the couch.
When I do find the right piece of furniture to expand the seating capacity of our family room, the recliner will have to go somewhere.
The boys want it to go in the basement, giving them all one more thing to fight about when they are down there playing video games. Ron will be sad to see it go anywhere at all.
Maybe the solution would be to put it in the garage next to his beloved boat. He would still have it all to himself that way, and the boys and I could stretch out on our two couches.
The only thing left to fight over would be the remote.
A mother of three boys, Pam Zich has been married to a Marine for 19 years and currently lives in Springfield, Va. You may e-mail her at homefront@stripes.osd.mil or visit her Web site at www.lifeonthehomefront.com.
