This blog originally appeared on the Knoxville Moms Blog on January 20, 2016. Please click the link at the bottom to continue reading the full post!
Growing up a middle child with two brothers, I had to share a lot of things: the TV remote, the play fort in our backyard, and my parents’ attention, to name a few. But there were a lot more things I got to have of my own. Being the only girl had its perks. I had my own clothes, my own toys, even my own room. From the time my little brother was out of a crib – which was around kindergarten for me – I had my own room.
I mean, it makes sense at some point to separate boys and girls, and eventually the boys were happy to be rid of me. When I was in 3rd grade, we moved to a bigger house with four bedrooms and a bonus room. That meant everyone could have their own space PLUS a game room. It was a great setup for a while. Then the strangest thing happened… My brothers gave up their solo spaces to share the bonus room. That’s right, they had the option for privacy but chose to share. That always baffled me!!…Until I had kids of my own.
We have four children – one girl and three boys – and a three bedroom house. When the 3rd was born, my older two got their first room-sharing experience at ages one and three. It came with plenty of challenges, including the 3-year-old waking her brother whenever she got up and the 1-year-old throwing toys from his crib to her bed when she was trying to sleep. For several years I would put my daughter down for a nap in my bedroom so everyone could actually get some rest. Oh, and did I mention my son cries in his sleep? (Thankfully this habit subsided as he grew, but at 5 1/2 he still does it from time to time!) But on the whole, their sharing a room was glorious. They played together constantly, they would sing to each other at night, and when my son got a twin bed, I put them close enough together that I could rub both their backs at the same time. They were absolutely best friends.
When the time came for my daughter to start kindergarten (read: wake up way earlier than the boys had to), our special gift to her was something I loved growing up: her own room. She got a brand new fancy big girl bed! Glittery butterflies on the wall! A sheer canopy that
I wanted to keep for myselfwas super girly! Her new room was little girl heaven. We had a grand reveal, and she loved it! That is, until bedtime. When she realized she would be sleeping in there while the baby moved in with her BFF brother, she cried. “You and Daddy have each other, and my brothers have each other. I’m the only one who has to sleep alone!” she moaned. (That was actually a pretty good point I had not considered…)
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