Jackson and Belle are official the occupants of a new-to-us bunk bed and are sharing a room.
Tonight makes night number 4 in the bunk beds for the kiddos. The original plan had been to set up the bunk bed a week earlier-- but we thought the room could use some fresh paint. And then we* took everything off the walls and realized there were a lot of holes that needed spackling, and then came sanding, and priming, and painting... and it just kept going and going! The room is still bare, but the bed is up and put together and Belle has officially moved in**.
* we = me nesting and Derek cooperatively playing along
**By moved in, I mean sleeping in there. Her clothes and stuff haven't been integrated yet, but this is where she's residing!
I love the bed. I'm a fan of perpendicular bunk beds and it has a desk, a book shelf, and even drawers so it's all sorts of functional!
Having the kids share a room serves a couple purposes beyond the fact that a new baby will be here within the next couple months. I was getting annoyed with the entitlement out of my little people and all the "me, my, mine!" going on. Along with the new room, all toys and possessions (with a few exceptions) have become community property. Lastly, I know that strong sibling bonds can be created by sharing a room and so that's a big bonus, too!
The transition has gone pretty good.The noise level has increased by a million percent. They laugh, wrestle, and play more. They also fight, scream, and cry more. My new favorite thing is to shut their door and say, "figure it out!" and they normally resume playing pretty quickly. Compromise is a challenge, but have quickly learned how to chose bedtime music together in fear of risking no music at all.
The sleeping challenges are a bit different as it's more of a personality and preference thing, as opposed to learning to share space. Jackson doesn't nap and so he falls to sleep very quickly, while Belle on the other hand can stay up talking to herself for hours. Each night has become a little bit smoother.
Whew! One MAJOR task crossed off the list before baby #3 (who will probably never be named) arrives. I need to move more of Belle's things and then I need to dig out all of the new baby things and set up her nursery. I wish I could have a fairy god mother to make it all happen, but at least we got things started early and don't have to rush too much!
For those of you who have (or have had) kids share room-- What were your room rules? How did you manage the kid who stays up later or the one who wakes up early? Do/Did you kids have a designated personal space?
Oh no! Kaylynn is going to be heartbroken to learn that Jack doesn't have a slide anymore. She loved him for his slide, wanted to marry him for that slide. And when our girls got their new bunk beds (tonight is also night #4 in their beds) they were disappointed their were no slides, but felt better when we told them they could visit Jack and his slide. I do like their beds though. The extra space is nice. Our beds are twin over full with a staircase instead of a ladder. There is extra storage in the stairs.
ReplyDeleteAs for shared space, the girls have been room sharers for over 2 years. They don't really have any personal space, but if one of them needs some alone time, I ask the other to stay out of the room for a while. All their toys are community, but I'm starting to feel bad that neither has anything that is just theirs and so I'm considering changing the community toy rule. Maybe we need to find the middle ground between entitlement and communal.
Since Kaylynn doesn't always nap, I put her in our room during nap time. They definitely keep each other up at night, but as long as they are in bed, semi-quiet and lights out, I don't mind. Kaylynn usually falls asleep even if Kennedy is talking to her. Kennedy has even been known to have fights with Kaylynn while Kaylynn was passed out. They also know to let the other keep sleeping if one wakes up first.