Sunday, June 29, 2014

There were 3 in a bed(room)

Yesterday we gave our apartment people our 30 days notice to leave, and even though I've cried a lot about how squished we are and how much space we don't have and on and on, I'm going to definitely cry when we leave. (For those of you who aren't up to date on our life situation - we live in a 1,082 square ft. 2 bedroom apartment with 3 kids, 2 cats, and 0 outdoor space, not even a balcony.  Come to think of it, it's probably a really good thing that we don't have a balcony.)

That, however, is a post for another day.  Since we are leaving, I thought I'd document a slice of life right now so that someday I can look back on these crazy times and laugh.  (And then cry.  And then laugh again.)

And so I present...3 kids, 1 bedroom:



The girls beds are crib mattresses on wooden platforms that Stephen built, and Emeric has a full size crib.  I'm actually really surprised that these pictures look this nice.  We just replaced the 2 stained and ripped pink Ikea sheets that have been used for the girls since Ava was born (almost 5 years.  I'd say that was $7.99 well spent) and got actual bedding sets for them instead of the random pillowcases and blankets we've hodgepodged together up til now - and we also painted over the insane murals the girls have been slowly coloring for the past year.  So I guess that helps a lot.


Still, the decor feels admittedly lacking to me.  See the picture frames over the beds?  Those have been hanging there not since Christmas, not since last Christmas, but since Christmas of 2011.  Hey, even a broken decor system is right once a year.

At bedtime, the first idea we found that worked was to put Emeric to bed at 7pm, Clare in bed at 7:30, and Ava at 8.  This has recently been moving towards a more flexible bedtime ritual of "get Emeric to sleep when he's tired, and after he's asleep get the girls to bed."  They are all usually in bed at a very reasonable time, but don't be too jealous - any time after 5am is fair game for wake up.  And when one of them is up, alllllll of them are up.

Well, hey.  At least one of them still naps.

I have a feeling about 50% of the people reading this post are horrified that 3 children are sharing one bedroom and feel this is a barbaric practice.  The other 50% are wondering why I am traumatized by this experience (like for instance - my grandpa, who shared a room with 6 of the men in his family and slept in a double bed with both his father and his twin brother during his childhood in Canada when the chamber pots would routinely freeze overnight.  Just kidding - I don't think he reads the blog!)

I also have to give some props to Ana for inspiration for this post - apparently she's in the same 3 kid to a bedroom boat as we are.  When I read her post about that, I was slightly overjoyed that we weren't alone in our endeavors.  And then I wished she would write a little more about it.  And then I figured that if I wanted to read a post like that, I might as well write a post like that.  (But hint, hint, girl...write that post. I still wanna read it.)

Anyway, we're moving next month to a real house with a real yard and 3 - THREE! - bedrooms.  They are pretty tiny rooms, but it's gonna feel like heaven on earth to us.  Stay tuned for the continuing saga...