Vignette 21

Miriam’s Room

6/5/77


Miriam is suffering a change about which she is unhappy but which I believe is for the best. Until last night, she and Robby shared a bedroom. Yesterday Robby moved into the third bedroom of the carriage house in which we live.

Miriam has complained that it’s lonely in her room now with Robby gone. It surely must be — for last night it was quiet after the children went to bed: none of the common fights over whether the night light should be on (Miriam’s position) or off (Robby’s); over who has taken whose favorite toy animal or reneged on a trade; no complaints that Miriam wanted to sleep while Robby wanted to watch Victory at Sea on TV or some even later special program. Instead, Miriam went to bed accompanied only by Foxy, two stuffed horses, 3 Peanuts books, Babar and the Wully Wully, and Richard Scarry’s Busy, Busy World. Miriam reappeared an hour later, spent a little while with Gretchen and me, then went off to bed and sleep.

Miriam does have trouble sleeping. Her profound allergic reaction to household dust causes her difficulty in breathing. During the day, her wheezing is suppressed effectively by a medication taken every six hours. If her room is dusty, she wakes up in the middle of the night (when the medicine’s effect has reduced) short of breath and fearful. Despite Miriam’s having a work table, shelves, and her toys in the kitchen and living room, Miriam and Robby together manage to create a terrible clutter in their bedroom. This persistent clutter made keeping the room dust-free near impossible. When Robby asked to move out (which has other unrelated benefits for him), I decided the benefits Miriam could not appreciate outweighed the drawbacks and the move would be good for us all.

Relevance

Since Robby is Miriam’s closest playfellow, a competitor, and occasional instructor, their separate bedrooms will reduce the stimulation they each provide the other outside the bounds of observation’s scope.

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