When I had only one, and then two children, I was a firm believer in "every child gets his/her own room." But more and more children kept coming. One day, I realized that we were about to bring child #4 home - to our 4 bedroom house. Hmmmm....
We decided to purchase a good quality set of bunk beds for the two girls closest in age (14 months apart) to share. The beds are farther apart than your typical bunk beds (so kids aren't constantly bonking heads), and they can be separated into two twin beds. I'd love to show you a picture here, but I am seriously too lazy to go take one, upload it, download it, then spend four hours re-formatting this post.
For years Abbey (7) and Megan (6) have shared a room. Currently, because our downstairs has been off-limits, Shea (4) has joined them. Three girls in a 10x10 room is a tight squeeze! Really, only a good picture can do this justice - come back next Wed and I will have pictures and share how we fit all the toys on one small floor of our house.
Abbey has been asking for her own room on and off for a couple years. So when we began renovating the basement this spring we were faced with a decision - do we build three bedrooms down there, or keep it at two? (When we bought the house there was one, but we added a second downstairs bedroom by necessity - #5 aka Malakai (almost 2) was on his way!)
We decided that the best long-term benefit for our whole family would be served by having a massive family room and fewer bedrooms. After all, Braeden (11) is practically a teenager, and right behind his teen years will be - count 'em - t-h-r-e-e teenage girls! A large space for hanging out is pretty much a necessity.
I didn't want to be the bearer of bad news for Abbey, though. So I came up with a clever (at least I think so) solution! Abbey will get the girls' bedroom upstairs and Shea & Meg will share downstairs...for one year. We'll move everyone a couple weeks before the start of the school year. Next year, Megan will get her own room. Then Shea. Ta-da!
If you're thinking about all the moving around and getting a headache, let me assure you that the girls will NOT be taking their furniture with them when they move rooms. The bunk beds will stay downstairs, whether or not they are bunked or twinned. Dressers will stay put. The only thing that will move is the child and her clothing (which I will put in a laundry hamper to transport).
So, I think that this might work for me! :) Make sure to visit the link and see what works for others in the world wide blogosphere.
How do you feel about kids sharing bedrooms? Are you for it, against it, or indifferent?
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
4 comments:
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My mother did this when I was a teen.
ReplyDeleteAt our house, we have 3 girls in one room and 3 boys in another. One way we keep things from getting too crowded is to keep toys out of the bedrooms (the older boys keep their Bionicles and toys w. small parts in their room, but that's it!) We have a family closet, so there are only beds in the bedroom!
I am all about sharing rooms. I heard a dad say once "My wife and I share a room, so the kids can share too!"
ReplyDeleteI think it gives them more opportunities to teach love and patience for one another.
We have 3 boys in one (ages 5 1/2, 7, 8) and the 2 girls (ages 4, 9).
I'm all for having young children sharing bedrooms. (Obviously they must be the same gender.) When they get to be pre-teens though, privacy becomes a major issue. At that time it's best to consider your family's options.
ReplyDelete~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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I only have one child, but if God sends us another they'll be sharing a bedroom. I shared with my brother until I was 9 and he was 6, and we separated only because I couldn't take the teasing from friends; we continued sharing during summers at Grandma's through our teens. (As we got older, we started taking turns getting dressed alone, or one of us would change in the bathroom.) It made us closer, prevented nightmares, and made bedtime easier because our dad could read the story with both of us in our beds instead of having us come to his bed and trying to send us to ours afterward!
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of having fewer bedrooms and doing most of the living in the public rooms! My son rarely plays in his bedroom because he likes to be where we are, and we want to encourage that.