Friday, September 9, 2011

Roommate Anyone?

Do your kids share a room?

I grew up with my own room and it was nice to have a place to call my own, to be able to shut the door and with it, the world.  It could also get lonely though.  Many nights after I was supposed to be in bed asleep I would sneak into my brother’s room and we would play.

My kids share a room.  All three of them now.  We live in an old house, a 1925 bungalow that someone else enlarged before we bought it.  We technically have 4 bedrooms, but we use one of them as a family room.  My husband and I have a bedroom downstairs and there are 2 bedrooms upstairs.  One of them is for the boys; the other is my husband’s office and a guest room.  The upstairs bedrooms are enormous.  The boys’ room has perpendicular bunk beds, a crib, a train table, a dresser, 2 book shelves, a standing cabinet, multiple toy bins, baskets and rocking chairs and still has plenty of room to play in.  I worry a little about their lack of privacy, but not too much.  Each older boy has a cabinet that is all his to put away anything he doesn’t want the other one to play with, otherwise everything else is shared.

For the most part, I think the boys love sharing a room.  After we put them to bed they play and talk and sometimes fight, but they have each other. Sometimes it’s tough, like when one has a sleep over, or one is taking a nap and the other wants to get something from the room, but generally it works.

Last night for the first time the baby slept up there with them.  We have been trying to get him up there all week and despite napping there without a problem he wouldn’t sleep all night there.  I also didn’t want to let him cry it out because the school bus comes at 7:00 and the other boys need to get their sleep!  The stars must have aligned last night because it all worked.

The older boys quieted down while the baby fell asleep and were thrilled that he was up there with them.  It’s so sweet to watch them all together….until it devolves into fighting over who gets to make the baby smile….but last night it was sweet. 

I hope they won’t resent us someday for having them all share a room, but I think (hope) the bonding is worth it.

What do you think?

2 comments:

  1. My sister and I shared a room from my birth until I was 18 and she was 21. We are definetly close. We have moved across the country to live with each other, we have lived next door to each other, and we still are as close as ever! Since my mom died and all of our other relatives live states away, it is nice to have her so close by. We have fought about just about everything there is to fight about, but with that we have learned to forgive and let go, and to get along with a variety of people. I say it is awesome that your boys share a room. They will benefit from it for sure!

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  2. I shared a room with my older sister and younger brother until we moved to a three bedroom apt. when my sister started college. No regrets. Don't sweat it for a minute. Syndee

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