Now I Lay them Down to Sleep.... but where?

As I write this, I hear the thumping and kerfuffling that comes with a real life version of furniture Tetris. The Hubs has been moving around furniture, measuring and helping me finalize our solitary nesting project- getting a shared-room situation solidified before Baby Boy #3 comes. I love everything about living in a small home- the simplicity, the intimacy, the coziness- but I’ll be the first to admit figuring out which boy should share a room with which brother had me stumped.

When we purchased our three-bedroom home four years ago, we only had a newborn so it left us with some wiggle room. Second to the master bedroom, the bedroom directly across from ours was largest and brightest and I easily conceded it was the perfect set-up for a cheery nursery. The walls were painted a soft buttery yellow and quickly adorned with beloved homemade art and photos of our favorite baby (we aren’t biased parents at all!). The room instantly became my favorite in the house, both because of the warm glow that poured in from its south-facing windows and because it was one of the few rooms that was completely decorated before I was in the fog of first trimester fatigue with Baby Boy #2. As we anticipated Little Brother’s arrival I found myself leaning towards having both our sons share a room. There was something about that arrangement that gave me warm fuzzies, thinking about shared bedtime stories and cuddles. Somehow that arrangement didn’t pan out quite like I envisioned, though. Our oldest became a live wire with company and our evening routine consistently involved a multiple hour bedtime process. We quickly whisked Younger Brother to a pack ‘n play in our room to put to bed and once they were both asleep, I transferred the youngest back into the shared room. I’m embarrassed to admit that this became a nighttime ritual that lasted almost two years. Eager to reclaim the master bedroom as an adults-only zone, I put Younger Brother back in with Big Brother with much the same results as the first time round. At this point our oldest had outgrown a toddler bed set up and I figured this would be an good time to move him up to a big boy bed, and while at it, convert our third bedroom into his Big Boy Room, once again separating the boys for the sake of everyone’s sanity at bedtime. We already had a queen bed in our third room which swallowed the tiny space but was free, unlike any other bedding solution, so I stuck with it when getting bedding and accessories. Our oldest got quite the bed upgrade and for the last year, we’ve enjoyed all plopping down on his bed for bedtime stories, songs, and prayers only to disperse to our own rooms thereafter.

With #3 on his way, it seemed only natural that I’d put our oldest two together... except our Big Boy room currently is the smallest bedroom, too small to fit two twin beds. And for one reason or another, our boys sharing the queen, using bunk beds, or a trundle bed have all been vetoed as well. The easiest space solution seemed to be converting our third bedroom into a new nursery and switching the oldest two boys back into the larger bedroom... but to be honest, I don’t have it in me to repaint both rooms and undo all the hard work we put into making them into the current set ups that they are. Oh, what to do...

I found myself processing this dilemma with a group of girl friends recently and had an “aha!” moment shortly after receiving some advice.

“Why is it that the oldest two should be the ones sharing a room?” a friend asked me. She proceeded to tell me that she found herself in the same boat when she and her husband found themselves pregnant with #3 in a three bedroom house, too. Naturally, they thought the older two should share but they quickly realized in their situation all the kids would transition better if the oldest- who sleeps deepest and is old enough not to harm the baby- were to share with the newest member of the crew. Her story was more descriptive of her situation than prescriptive of mine, but I immediately agreed this sounded like the best solution for our situation as well. It nixed the “how do we get two boys into the smallest room without stepping on each other” scenario and it left us with our current chatterboxes being separated when they’re most apt to giggle, talk, and keep each other up. I’m eager to see how this all pans out once #3 makes his arrival.

Next in line is transitioning our kids into their new set ups. Thank goodness our first born is accommodating... after all, this will be his third room change (or should I say second since he’s returning to his original room?). And hopefully, the kids will acclimate to their new pads quickly because soon after we’ll have yet another transition... welcoming a new little bundle of joy to our family!