As I write this post, I am conflicted. I waited to write it because I like to conduct an appropriate amount of research before I declare a victory.
How 'bout if I run upstairs real quick, snap a few photos, and that way, I can just show you why I am conflicted at the end of this post.
Let's back up, shall we?
We have a 3-bedroom house. And while we love our house and think it is the perfect size, we need to make some adjustments as our family grows. Up until this point, each of the kids had their own room.
But now that we are pregnant, we started to keep our eyes open for a bunk bed set on Craigslist. With ample time to research, we knew we could get a good deal. Turns out, a young guy was selling his and I talked him down quite a bit. But, I forgot to ask one key question: Smoking or Non??
YUCK!! His father walked in while we were there and he was carrying 4 packs of Marlboro's. I won't make that mistake again... So, we let the wood sit out on the deck in the sun and rain for about a month and after scrubbing it down many times, the wood is fresh and clean now.
Baby #3 is still many months away and will spend the first few months in our room, but we still needed to get the bunk bed stored in the house somewhere. So, we decided to just set it up now in Elena's room and thought we would just let the kids use it as a fort until they are forced to share a room next summer. No biggie, right?
HA!!!
YOU try telling a three-year-old he has to wait a year to sleep inside the most amazing bunk-bed fort that ever existed!!!
(Complete with a storage-unit on top??)
So, instead of fighting with him, we decided to let him sleep in it one night. A trial run. For the next *ahem* week, all he heard was
"If you wake up your sister, you have to go back to your old room!" Turns out, that was all the threat he needed. All of a sudden, the kid, notorious for sword-fighting in his room with the lights on until 10 pm, was quiet as a mouse!!
At first, the excitement took a little while to wear off.
But when Leo hides behind the "wall" - She eventually forgets he is there and falls asleep.
For a couple days, our favorite activity was to put the kids to bed and then sit downstairs in front of the baby monitor to listen to the two of them talk and giggle before bed. It was super cute. It still is kinda cute. These two LOVE sharing a room!!
We were riding the high of success for over a week so we decided to fix the problem of the living room. I am not the best housekeeper. The kids are going to pull the toys out anyway, so I just leave it. Our house is a perpetual disaster.
This mess is from November...I still haven't cleaned it up ;)
So we transformed Leo's old room into a temporary toy room and cleared the living area of any toys!!
Which brings me to naptime today...Leo's old bed is gone. The threat that had been so effective all week of
"You will have to go back to your old room if you wake up Elena" is gone. I got nothin!!
Allow me to introduce you to naptime in the kids room today:
I waited until this morning to publish this post because I wanted to see if the nighttime routine would be any better. It was. I was a little worried we were going to have to break it all down and start over!
So, while I wouldn't declare this a victory, one snaffu is okay. If naptime doesn't go well today though...well...we just might have to throw a pillow and blanket in this box and toss it in the toy room for Leo...
Don't test me boy...
