There are so many upsides to having the boys share a room. They play with all the same toys anyway. It feels like they are practically in the same size clothes. “Kid stuff” is mostly contained in one room of the house, rather than stashed in every nook and cranny. I believe it helps promote learning to share and respect and play and work together. Bonding. Yup, lots of reasons.
But there are also a couple of downsides.
Today at lunch Judah was yawning and ready for bed. Soon after he finished I changed him, read the boys stories, and put them in bed.
Several minutes later I heard giggling and slapping. I peeked in the door to see Judah on his knees, rocking side to side, slapping his thighs, grinning and “singing” loudly. (My kiwi friends will be pleased to know that I’m almost positive he was doing the “haka”.)
He was happy as a clam and hyper as a… a… I don’t know. A kid who ate fruit loops for lunch? (He didn’t, by the way.)
Of course Levi finds this hilarious so he is in his bed copying and laughing, until I open the door when he dives for cover and pretends to be sleeping.
Most days I’d work really hard to get the boys both sleeping at the same time (they really do need it, and so do I) but every once-and-a-while I just don’t bother. I figure – they’re happy and they will have days where they wind each other up too much. As long as they stay in there and give me some space, I can deal with a few shrieks of laughter and harmless “naughtiness” during nap time. They’ll go to bed early tonight and I’ll cross my fingers that there won’t be too many melt-downs in between.
And I must admit, it’s kind of fun to snoop through a cracked door and watch the boys bonding and having so much fun… even if it is during nap time.
Q for you: Did you share a room growing up? If so, do you have fond memories of it? If you have kids, do they share?
Love,
A
Click Clink Five 
November 20th, 2012 at 12:35 am
My sister and I shared a room a couple of times over the years but it was never a bonding experience. Probably the sharing the bed part was too much as one of us was a bed wetter. As for my kids. My girls have shared a room and hated it and then not shared rooms and tried to bunk in together anyways. They are never satisfied on that subject. I believe the reason for them not wanted to share is that the younger girl snores like a freight train but really they want to be together. My son only shared a room to some extent for a few months before the youngest was born and he loved it but as the only boy he must have a room of his own which I believe he is thankful for now.
November 27th, 2012 at 10:14 pm
yes, there’s definitely the flip side too! i shared with my brother when i was little (and didn’t mind), but then we had our own rooms when i was about 6 and he was 3. it was a good thing! 😉
November 20th, 2012 at 7:29 am
I shared a room with my sister until I was about about 10 or 11. For the most part, it was a good experience (for me, she may not remember it that way.) But there were times that she didn’t like not having any space to get away from her annoying little sister.
Our kids share a room, by our choosing rather than necessity. There have been plenty of times that I’ve found it challenging and questioned the wisdom of having them room together. (Like nap time, or those overly tired nights when one or the other of them cries for a little too long, then the other joins in and an hour later my husband and I are still trying to settle them down.) But I so appreciate the cuteness of my son peeking into the crib and saying “Hi, baby!” I know the day will come when these two won’t room together anymore, so for now I’m trying to savot yhose precious bonding moments.
November 27th, 2012 at 10:16 pm
yeah, even now levi sometimes gets annoyed with judah and wants his own space. (though he IS a very independent kid just by personality anyway.) i imagine they would mostly love it, and also levi will get to a point where he’d rather not. i guess time will tell! for now, it’s mostly working really great! (except for nap times here and there like you mentioned – or early mornings where one wakes the other. ugh.)
November 20th, 2012 at 3:42 pm
Our boys share a room and we’ll add our 3rd to the room once he’s a little older (I was going to say sleeping through the night but he’s already doing that!). I LOVE when they wake up early and join the other in their bed and either read quietly together or play games. They love it and we love that they love it.
November 27th, 2012 at 10:18 pm
that is so cute. i’m so glad you have a great sleeper!! may he forever be!!!
i can only imagine all three of them bunked in together. adorable! and lots of potential for cheekiness and mischief! 🙂
December 3rd, 2012 at 8:06 am
Oh girl. This post speaks truth.
In fact, I’m in the process of writing a post that simply states “I love my boys sharing a room but NOT. DURING. NAP TIME.”
It’s the same thing you described– if I try to put my just-over-2 year old and 6 month old down for a nap together in the same room, they don’t nap. Period. They’ll easily go an hour and a half jumping and laughing and squealing and then crying… just keeping each other awake. And honestly? It’s not worth it to me. Nap time is so sacred I’ll do nearly anything to get both boys to sleep for as long as possible. So the current rule is that the little dude sleeps in mommy and daddy’s big bed and the toddler crashes in his own bed. Separate rooms = nice long naps = happy mommy and happy boys. It’s a win/win usually.
Thankfully they do great at night sharing a room. They both sleep through, and I don’t mind them getting up early and having those special brother-noises-and-bonding moments. I’m hoping that someday maybe when they’re older they’ll be able to nap together. In the meantime, they’re making great memories before bedtime at night and first thing in the morning. 🙂
By the way, I also have a Levi. My other is Asher. Yea for OT names!