Simplifying… me

“How do you do it?  How do you sleep all three kids in one room?”

I get asked this question…a lot.  Honestly, I’m no supermom, so I don’t usually have a good answer.  I guess the one thing we had going for us was that our kids have never known anything but sharing a room together.  This is the way it has always been.  I shared a room with my sister until we were in junior high.  And even then, we would sneak into each other’s rooms every so often just to be together.  Siblings sharing a bedroom was not a foreign concept to me, so naturally I always figured that my kids would share a room, too.  However, the idea of having my son share bedroom space with my girls was a little foreign to me.  This mental block had to be removed quickly because there really wasn’t any other option in our case.

So, how did I do it?  Here are a few “tips” I’ve learned and try to put into practice:

• Attitude is 90% of the battle.  Kids are very perceptive, and they will quickly pick up on your apprehension, fear or frustration, regarding small-space sleeping arrangements.  You don’t have to fake it, but I would try really hard to work out your own feelings before working with your kids.  When you have come to a happy place with the idea, then you can start talking it up to your little ones, including them in the planning process.
• Be creative.  There are wonderful resources out there on how to decorate and put together shared sleeping spaces.  Better Homes and Gardens has a big idea book full of pictures and guides for those of us who need a little jump start.  I also found Pottery Barn Kids to be another excellent resource.  While you may not be able to afford their prices, perusing their website is free, and they have an entire section on how to plan children’s shared sleeping spaces.  Pick and choose the ideas that will work best for your children’s room and go from there.
• Teach personal responsibility.  The older my children get, the more responsibilities they receive.  The oldest one is taking care of her part of the bedroom.  Because we are working with small space, extra clutter, clothes on the floor, and unmade beds are magnified.  For some moms this might not be a big deal, but it is for me.  Therefore, my children have the primary jobs of making their beds in the morning, picking up clothes and putting them away, cleaning up their toys when they are done playing with them, and tidying up their room.  I believe it is very healthy for them to have these responsibilities because one day they will be sharing space at college, dealing with flatmates after college, and then later on in marriage.  What a great skill they are developing in showing respect for others.
• Find a place for those treasures.  What my children perceive as treasure I tend to perceive as junk.  However, I can’t very well go around throwing all their special things away, as tempting as it is at times.  Therefore, I have made sure that each child has a place (shelves and baskets) where they can stow their special treasures away.  They each have a place to display keepsakes as well as storage for journals, papers, and miscellaneous items they hold dear.  The small space keeps them from saving everything, so they really have to think about what is truly important to them and then get rid of the rest.

It is becoming more and more common these days for siblings to share bedroom space due to the growing number of families downsizing their homes.  I did my best to give you an overview on how we do things in our home; however, I realize there may be additional questions.  Please don’t hesitate to ask me anything on this topic that you would find helpful.  I am more than happy to share more details with you.

Next week, we’ll take a peek at the master suite – a no-kid zone.

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