I shared a room with my sister until the day she got married and moved out. (Well, minus two years while big brother was on his mission).
I recall fights about only one half of the room being clean (ahem, my half) and every once in a while feeling like I didn't have a place to escape. But more than that, I recall talking into the night, falling asleep to pillow talk on the oldies station and repeating this phrase to each other every night: "Good night, sleep tight, don't let the crabby bugs bite, let the loving bugs bite." To which the other would reply "you too," and then the first, "Okay." I remain very close with my sister today and I wonder if that has something do with it or if we would be close anyway.
I imagine that if we had the space in our house, we wouldn't have shared a room, but that's just the way it was.
Justin grew up in a house with 9 kids and no one had their own room-ever. He feels like kids should share a room so that they learn to share and get along with each other and form close bonds (as I did with Nat).
The reason I bring it up is because we have the room for each child to have their own room, but a while back we put the girls together. It works out for the most part, but lately they haven't been doing well together. Either Taylee refuses to lay down and stop talking to Brooklyn or vice versa. Last night, Tay was throwing a fit about not wanting to be quiet and lay down so I threatened, "If you can't be good and lay down you'll have to sleep in the playroom by yourself." I didn't expect the reply, "Yeah, sleep in the playroom!" I set up the port a crib and she fell asleep immediately and didn't wake up until 9:00 after I opened her door.
Now I'm contemplating moving her back into her own room. What do you think? Does it even really matter what we choose?
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7 comments:
I don't think you have to share a room in order to learn to share. It all depends on the kids. We had Caleb and Beckett in a room together most of last summer, and they did pretty well, but it got to a point that they were too noisy together and we separated them, and it's been great. I say don't worry about them 'learning to share,' and just figure it out so everyone gets their zzzz's. :)
I don't know. I make the kids share. And they're good about it, but when they were young, I separated them because one would wake the other in the night and such. I think it's a great idea once they hit about 3 or 4.
I LOVE that i have those memories from our room-sharing days.... but at the time would have traded anything for my own space. Whatever, we survived! Now that my girls are used to sharing a room, it was always be that way even if we have an "extra" room. When Scarlie bugs Fia too much I let fia sleep on the couch in the living room. She loves it and Scarlett's sad to lose her buddy... that's her punishment. Seems to work usually.
I'm going to go with the hated "you decide!"
We had a lot of the same issues. I shared a room for the majority of my growing up years (including all of high school - which is when it hurts the most), and my husband never ever had his own room. Now we're in a house with five bedrooms and soon-to-be four kids. It just feels DUMB sharing rooms when they don't have to! Yet I also know how much sharing a room helps build friendships.
Finally, we decided that every kid gets their own room, and every Friday night we have a brother sleepover. It's awesome. It's rare enough that they look forward to it, and they get to stay up late talking and playing. (We turn a deaf ear.)
Let them have their own room. Even with 9 kids, each of my siblings have each had a year or two to have their own room, if not more. Sometimes kids need their own space in order to get along. My sister and I would not be on speaking terms if we had to share a room. In the total 11 years in the same house, we shared a room for about half, ONLY because in CA we didn't have the space for seperation. Then again there are 8 years between us.
Just don't decorate in theme the rooms for at least a year, just to be sure they don't beg to be back together.
I didn't know you had a blog!! It is awesome! I can't stop reading it. Seriously. Great. Oh my goodness. So glad I found this today...
I loved sharing a room with your mom... the night time chats are better remembered than the spats.. i suppose we had them, but it's the sleepy time visits I remember and treasure. I am sorry that Kirstynn doesn't have a sister. Save the "spare room" for sleep overs. Give the girls the opportunity to grow up with a sister like you and I your mom did.
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