Boys Don't Cry - From Poster to Radio, Past to Present

What feels like a million years ago and yesterday all at the same time, Chris and I made the decision to keep a Cure, Boy's Don't Cry poster on a wall where it was affixed directly above Jack's crib.  We thought it was fun, after all, he was a baby, he wouldn't complain about the nursery decor - that is until he did.  When Jack was a toddler he began to have trouble sleeping thanks to "the shadow man" which we soon figured out was the profile of The Cure lead singer Robert Smith.  So I wrote about it, (you can check out the post here).  We eventually took it down, and then it ended up in another nursery for another little boy named Wolfgang whose mom and dad met at a Cure concert (you can read that story here).

Fast forward years.  Jack is no longer afraid of Robert Smith.  In fact I'd argue he's a fan.  This six year old loves music: he can tell the difference between whether or not an ACDC song is sung by Bon Scott or Brian Johnson. A year or two ago when I asked him if he was interested in checking out a Monster Truck show he told me, in complete seriousness, that he'd rather watch The Cure video where Robert Smith falls down a cliff in a wardrobe instead, so we did, about eight times in a row.  He is a sensitive boy who knows what he likes.  He isn't afraid to show his emotions. He loves to dance and he's much more likely to cry from hurt feelings than he is from a bump or a bruise - which to us is more than okay -and pretty much summarizes the importance of the song.

Last summer I was approached for BBC Radio 4 for their Soul Music series to talk about Jack and Boy's Don't Cry.  As a huge Cure fan, my wedding song was Just Like Heaven, I was over the moon when I heard that founding Cure drummer Lol Tolhurst was also being featured in this series.  I was excited when the program aired, and my jaw dropped when the BBC relayed a message that Lol enjoyed our story and would share it with Robert to give him a chuckle.

As the 40th anniversary of the band is here, I'm hoping that they come to Toronto and that maybe I can take Jackie to the show.

Here is a link to the series if you want to check it out.   It is totally worth a listen in its entirety or if you just want to hear my (and Jack's) story, start at 19:07. The story shortly after mine is also connected to where our old Cure poster ended up.

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Boys Don't Cry

When we bought our house we mentally went over the future floor plan.  The middle upstairs bedroom was ear marked as a nursery/bedroom for the ONLY child we would have in a few years.*  When I found out I was expecting twins, the nursery automatically moved from the cute middle bedroom with the perfect nook for a single bed/crib to the larger room at the back of the house.  I knew right then and there that down the road I would eventually either lose my office to one of the minions or that we would have to move or renovate.

When we found out we were having girl/boy twins, we designed a gender neutral nursery with the theme: Nursery Rhymes and Storybooks.  We decorated it with artwork inspired by Jack and the Bean Stalk, The Princess and the Pea, Alice in Wonderland and The Princess Bride.  Since the nursery doesn't have a closet we opted for a series of dressers alongside an old IKEA armoire that previously encased a television that we converted into a children's wardrobe.  Only three items remain from the conversion of this room from spare room to nursery: the off white linen curtains**, the PEZ themed light switch cover and a giant "The Cure" poster situated behind the armoire promoting their 1979 Album Boys Don't Cry.  We debated moving it, but I was keen on the idea of  having a picture in a nursery that had the Motto - Boys Don't Cry embossed on it.

Not necessarily the most traditional nursery decoration

Two nights ago Jack woke up in the middle of the night freaking out and absolutely inconsolable.  It was Chris's night on-call, so after three attempts to get Jack back to sleep he ended up crashing out on the couch downstairs with Jack in his arms.  The only person who managed to sleep through the 90 minute ordeal was Molly.

The next morning Chris and I were talking about why Jack was up and what was bothering him.  Chris mentioned that he kept on talking about the closet and that he explained to Jack that there was no closet in his room.  As the day progressed I thought more and more about Jack's issue - I was convinced that it had to be the poster.  I called Chris and asked him if Jack had mentioned anything about the poster.  "Yes, he kept on asking about the man" and explained to him that the man was Robert Smith and he is a singer from England.  Chris had previously told me that he was terrified of some movie posters (ET and Star Wars) he had in his room at night (during the day they were fine) as a child, so we really should have clued in sooner, but didn't and I'm going to blame it on being sleep deprived.

When we returned from work that evening I asked Jack about the poster.  He informed me that he did not like it.  So when I asked him if he wanted us to take it down, he said yes. We removed Robert from the wall that evening.  Jackie was happy that "the bad man*** with the eyes is gone."   Molly was indifferent and couldn't care less and even asked to visit the man in his new home.  The next day Jack told me that, "The man that lives in the picture is happy now."

I am now sharing my office with Robert Smith.  It was bound to happen sooner or later.

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*Guess that was never in the cards, not that I'd change a thing.
**I am currently looking for new, darker curtains in hope that it will make for a more suitable nap environment and am welcoming suggestions.
***Or Batman, he doesn't always enunciate is words.