The “Girl Room”, the art of sharing a bedroom

Last night we decided it was time to move the girls in a room together

We'd tried this once before when Izzie 1st moved into a 'toddler' bed {aka a trundle-bed with a guard wall on it}. Magdalene, our oldest, would encourage Isabella to get up and run around the room all while she watched from the comfort of her bed singing loudly. Some nights Maggie would run over to Izzie's bed and mess with her. There was very little sleeping going on so the "girl" room didn't last long. We moved Izzie back in the nursery with Benjamin.

Now that my babies are all three on different, overlapping nap schedules it's become really hard for anyone to start or finish their entire nap without someone being woke up. For a few days we tried letting Iz just sleep in Mag's bed and Mag's sleep in the guest bed. Izzie hated it! She wanted to sleep in her bed.

This past weekend we had my parents and niece, Anna and nephew, David here for the weekend! We all had so much fun and Maggie got to have her cousins sleep in her room with her. Last night, when they left, Maggie was so upset! She cried and cried about not having "someone to sleep with" in her room. She often has trouble going to sleep; getting her mind to settle down. If she would just get still for 10 seconds she's pass out. When it's feasible, I lay with her for a few minutes to get her to sleep quickly.

The more I thought about it I realized I've rarely slept in a room by myself and never really liked it. Maggie's never said it but maybe she's scared? Uncomfortable? Uneasy? Lonely? Matt agreed that we could try it. I mean, we were going to try it when we moved anyways; who knows when that's gonna be ;o) I told Maggie this morning as soon as her sleepy, bed-head wandered into my bathroom, "Maggie, guess what!?! We're gonna move Izzie into your room." Maggie, half asleep, "Really?!? Today? Right now?" Me, "Yep, we're gonna have a girl room and a boy room. Are you excited to have Izzie sleep in a room with you?" Maggie, "Yes! {eeeek}"

I called Izzie upstairs to talk to her about it as we moved the beds. "Izzie, do you want Mamma to move your bed into Maggie's room?" "YEAH!!!!!!" {insert Dancing and jumping!} She watched, giggled, and danced as Matt and I moved her trundle-bed into the corner of Maggie's room. Izzie grabbed sheets in an attempt to help make up her bed. She threw her pillow on top and grinned from ear to ear as we told her this was now the "Girl Room"! She and Jamin jumped on the bed, pretended to sleep and wrestled one another after everything had been set up. Awe, the simple things.

The true test came this afternoon when it was...{dun dun dun}...NAP TIME! Jamin was finishing his nap in his bed and we told the girls it was their nap time. Grumbles. Then, we reminded them that we'd moved the bed so they could share a room. Zooooom, up the stairs they flew.

Izzie snuggled down into her bed. I was still unsure about Maggie singing and wiggling herself to sleep while keeping Izzie awake so we laid her down in the guest bed again. Izzie passed out immediately in her own bed in the "Girl Room"...Maggie, I found dancing on the guest bed ~30 min later. I went to tuck her back in and she ask why Izzie wasn't in there with her. She remembered that we said they could "sleep together". She was right, this was kinds defeating the purpose. I reminded her that Izzie was already asleep so she couldn't sing or talk because it would wake her up. I snuck her into her own bed. She grinned as she snuggled down into her covers, gazing across the room at her sleeping little sister. I kissed her goodnight and returned to Jamin in his highchair eating lunch down stairs.

Another 30 minutes passed. No noise. Hmmm, I snuck upstairs to gloat over my accomplishment only to find Maggie sitting up in her bed grinning. As I walked over to scold her she whispered, "I've only been over there twice to check on her. I just gave her kisses." Awe, how can you scold that kind of sweet disobedient child? I told her that Izzie would be fine and she needed to SLEEP with Izzie in her room.

20 minutes later, just now, I went to check on them. I WIN!!!! They were both snooze'n! In their beds. Still tucked in. Now we just pray Izzie wakes up peacefully and wonders out of the room without waking Maggie.

This thought is something new I'm mulling over: God didn't create us to be independent. WE make up the body of Christ therefore we are all incomplete without one another. God's persona is too big to be complete in a single person. Thoughts???

I've had several questions from friends about how/why we do certain things around the Rothacher house. I want to write about them but don't know which one(s) to start with. What do you want to know?
Why do you have that tacky brown sheet covering the wind?
How did you figure out your child's nap schedule? What is your napping schedule?
Why do your children share a room when you have a guest room?
Who made the name canvases for the doors?
How long do your children sleep?
How can you just take them to their bed(s), lay them down, and them go to sleep without getting up {minus the lonely one ;o)}?
Or any other questions not listed?