The time has finally come to let the kids divide into a boys room and a girls room. It has always been the plan to do so, but we were waiting until the summer as well as making sure Levi wouldn’t wake anyone else up in his room. I knew this would be an exciting switch for the kids, but I didn’t expect just HOW exciting it was going to be for them.
They were basically counting down the hours until we could start the switch. Which then was really tricky to try and do since we had to do all the moving in between naps (and at this stage of life someone is sleeping almost ALL the time). So as soon as we had a nap-free window, we would scramble and pull things from one room to the other or try and get clothes swapped or get the bed from the garage back into the house, etc. It took us about two days to get everything sorted out and put back together.
For the most part the switch has been smooth sailing. Levi is excited to have Josiah in his room so he’ll stand in his crib looking at him for a long time, but he’ll usually settle down and go to sleep just fine. Josiah is doing exceptionally well. He is so proud to be in the boys room now that I feel like he could burst with happiness.
Chloe had a little harder time with the transition than we expected–not so much having Maddie in her room, because that’s the same that it has been, but with the actually rearranging of the furniture. She had built up a grand plan of how she was expecting things to be moved and look and basically none of it happened (due to the size of their room and furniture–there just aren’t a lot of options). We also though we were going to have her bed lofted, in order to fit the toddler bed underneath, so she would need a new ladder built… but then after looking at the design of the bed and our options it really just made so much more sense to simply transition Maddie directly to the bottom bunk instead of the toddler bed. Meaning she didn’t get her new ladder either. So. There were a lot of tears and frustrations. But we got through it. And now she’s totally fine with it.
Then there’s Maddie… we knew this would be a whole new world with Maddie moving out of her crib. But we were also feeling the crunch of space and it just made the most sense to let her move up. I intentionally started this process this past Wednesday, so I had all the way until Monday to be able to keep a close eye on her (because I teach on Mondays and Tuesdays in the summer and I need her to stay in her bed while I’m teaching in the afternoon). The first day was not good. She was enjoying her new found freedom way too much. There were warnings and jumping and playing and touching the window blinds and consequences then tears and finally I just ended up laying in the room. HOWEVER, I’m happy to report that she’s fully transitioned now. She climbs right into bed and lays down and doesn’t get up until we come to get her. Yay! That was a long 5 days, let me tell you. 😉
So, we now have a boys room and a girls room. And the only switch that will have to happen in another year or two is getting a bunk bed for the boys. But that is so far in the future right now.
That is just SOOO exciting to me – no idea why!
I love your statement about Josiah bursting with happiness – doesn’t that just describe him perfectly MOST of the time? Such a joyful kid I’ve never met.
I can empathize with Chloe – I like things done the way I’ve visualized and am disappointed when it doesn’t work out. But kuddos to her for just getting over it and moving on!
And getting Maddie to stay in bed that quickly? Give yourself a big pat on the back for that!!
I can just feel how much fun it must be for all of you to have the four of them in a more
“mature” room arrangement, and one that will most likely last for as long as they are home. Bit step!
Big step, I meant.
That’s so fun! A new life stage. The early years go by so slowly and then, unexplicably, time speeds up!