Parenting moves in phases, everyone says it, right? The problems we have just now are much different than the problems we had 8 years ago with a poorly sleeping baby. (Just one baby then :))
Our situation is, in complete fairness, pretty awesome, but that doesn't mean there aren't perplexing, humorous, grating challenges. Here is the latest in keeping it real parenthood at our house.
We moved just a few days shy of a month ago to a much bigger house that features, effectively, one more bedroom than the old one. After some discussion, it was decided by all parties that the boys would share a room and M would get a room of her own. Not only that, they all agreed that she would get the biggest of the upstairs bedrooms complete with the window seat of her dreams.
Night 1 for the kids sleeping in the new house I was in DC. Not ideal. Brent and I had set up and made all the beds the night before (after Able & Kari had moved them in earlier in the day). M's room was lovely and full of her special decorations. Everyone was sleeping in the identical bed they had used in the prior house, just in different rooms. Brent sent me a picture of the set ups.
The pictures was mostly to highlight M's decorations and impeccable organization and the boys room with stuff dumped on the floor. Just a few minutes later, he sent me another picture entitled "Guess what lasted about 5 minutes."
M was too lonely and worried to sleep alone and had apparently insisted on being moved in with her brothers and they and Brent decided it was for the best for now. So they slept like that before the trip and for a week or so afterward, but it was cramped and M & B were starting to pick at each other again. I ordered her an amazing double day bed with a trundle underneath that she selected herself. It is sturdy and should last forever. It arrived a day early and with some help from Uncle Able & Aunt Audra to get the mattress there we were all set.
We disassembled E's crib the same day. He had been falling out since we took the front off of it and was barely fitting in it at age 3 with a dozen animals and large pillows he "had" to sleep with. We bought M new sheets and a blanket and she happily moved in with not too many issues.
E spent the first night in his new bed trying hard not to go to sleep under the "Captain America" quilt his great-grandmother sewed in 1976 (Probably with zero thoughts of Captain America in mind). It was a struggle and he ran down the hall and down the stairs a lot. He also "may" have fallen out the first night as Brent found him under his bed in the morning with a scratch on his face.
Since then, the struggle has been pretty real with E. Out of the maybe week or so he has been in his new bed only two nights do I recall him going easily to bed and nap times have only worked easily maybe 1/2 the time. He comes to the railings upstairs and needs to "see" us or sleep with us or something. He runs up and down the halls and bothers his brother and sister. He plays with random things, and sneaks up on Brent and I wherever we may be. Tonight, after being sent back to bed several times he somehow shut his finger in the door to M's bedroom. I'm sure it hurt tremendously, but I "might" not have been as kind and gentle as I would have had there not been many rounds of shenanigans before this. So far, no consequences for his behavior seem to curtail it or really bother him much. Le sigh.
If you are doing the math so far, you realize we now have a guest bedroom. We do! Hooray! It is officially dubbed "Grandma's room," but she graciously allows other guests to stay there should they materialize. This week it has been a flex bedroom space. E has slept there a time or two when avoiding a crying or distracting E. M slept there after an "accident" one night. B slept there when he had his migraines and needed a quite space away from other people. It isn't that dark with yellow curtains, but it is fairly secluded. The sheets are also washed way more often than anywhere else in our house. It actually is working well, but definitely part of the "bed shuffle" that is currently happening. A few times people have just slept in their designated beds with little drama, but so far, that is the exception, not the rule.
Brent and I, for the record, have slept in our own bed every night we've been home even when it was silly hot from AC failure. Not sure that makes sense either, but it feels comforting to be in one's own bed. Here's hoping the kids figure that out soon.
Our situation is, in complete fairness, pretty awesome, but that doesn't mean there aren't perplexing, humorous, grating challenges. Here is the latest in keeping it real parenthood at our house.
We moved just a few days shy of a month ago to a much bigger house that features, effectively, one more bedroom than the old one. After some discussion, it was decided by all parties that the boys would share a room and M would get a room of her own. Not only that, they all agreed that she would get the biggest of the upstairs bedrooms complete with the window seat of her dreams.
Night 1 for the kids sleeping in the new house I was in DC. Not ideal. Brent and I had set up and made all the beds the night before (after Able & Kari had moved them in earlier in the day). M's room was lovely and full of her special decorations. Everyone was sleeping in the identical bed they had used in the prior house, just in different rooms. Brent sent me a picture of the set ups.
 |
| M's Room - day 1 |
 |
| Boys' Room - day |
M was too lonely and worried to sleep alone and had apparently insisted on being moved in with her brothers and they and Brent decided it was for the best for now. So they slept like that before the trip and for a week or so afterward, but it was cramped and M & B were starting to pick at each other again. I ordered her an amazing double day bed with a trundle underneath that she selected herself. It is sturdy and should last forever. It arrived a day early and with some help from Uncle Able & Aunt Audra to get the mattress there we were all set.
We disassembled E's crib the same day. He had been falling out since we took the front off of it and was barely fitting in it at age 3 with a dozen animals and large pillows he "had" to sleep with. We bought M new sheets and a blanket and she happily moved in with not too many issues.
E spent the first night in his new bed trying hard not to go to sleep under the "Captain America" quilt his great-grandmother sewed in 1976 (Probably with zero thoughts of Captain America in mind). It was a struggle and he ran down the hall and down the stairs a lot. He also "may" have fallen out the first night as Brent found him under his bed in the morning with a scratch on his face.
Since then, the struggle has been pretty real with E. Out of the maybe week or so he has been in his new bed only two nights do I recall him going easily to bed and nap times have only worked easily maybe 1/2 the time. He comes to the railings upstairs and needs to "see" us or sleep with us or something. He runs up and down the halls and bothers his brother and sister. He plays with random things, and sneaks up on Brent and I wherever we may be. Tonight, after being sent back to bed several times he somehow shut his finger in the door to M's bedroom. I'm sure it hurt tremendously, but I "might" not have been as kind and gentle as I would have had there not been many rounds of shenanigans before this. So far, no consequences for his behavior seem to curtail it or really bother him much. Le sigh.
If you are doing the math so far, you realize we now have a guest bedroom. We do! Hooray! It is officially dubbed "Grandma's room," but she graciously allows other guests to stay there should they materialize. This week it has been a flex bedroom space. E has slept there a time or two when avoiding a crying or distracting E. M slept there after an "accident" one night. B slept there when he had his migraines and needed a quite space away from other people. It isn't that dark with yellow curtains, but it is fairly secluded. The sheets are also washed way more often than anywhere else in our house. It actually is working well, but definitely part of the "bed shuffle" that is currently happening. A few times people have just slept in their designated beds with little drama, but so far, that is the exception, not the rule.
Brent and I, for the record, have slept in our own bed every night we've been home even when it was silly hot from AC failure. Not sure that makes sense either, but it feels comforting to be in one's own bed. Here's hoping the kids figure that out soon.
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