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I have a dilemma. I have a 4 bedroom house, which is nice for a family of five but there’s one bad thing about the 4th bedroom. The bad thing is that you have to enter the 3rd. bedroom to get into the last bedroom (as you can see in the picture), which is the master bedroom.
Before I had my 3 daughter Nessa (her nickname), it wasn’t a major problem because it was used as a den/computer room. Now that my little princess is here, it’s her bedroom. She’s turning 4 in March and I think she’s old enough to share a room with her (almost) 10 year old sister Missa (her nickname) and make that room a den again.
Now here is where the problem is. Missa does not want to share a room with her sister. She claims that her sister will touch all of her things and make a huge mess. Well, when I was her age, I had to share a room with my sister who’s also 6 years younger than me like they are now. It wasn’t the greatest thing to deal with but we both survived. We also had no choice. We lived in a two bedroom apartment. So even though we really didn’t get along when we were kids, we are as close as two peas in a pod now.
Anyway, I know we’re growing out of this house little by little but we’re not going anywhere; not anytime soon. Maybe that will change in the future but who knows. To be honest, going through my daughter’s room in order to go into my bedroom is becoming a big pain in the butt. It wasn’t much of a problem when she was a baby because we were right there whenever she made a weird sound. Now that she’s older, there are toys everywhere. We could hardly walk into our bedroom without stepping on a toy or two. My husband and I are really getting tired of that.
So, what do you think? Are we being unfair putting them together in one room?
I don’t think it’s unfair at all. I’m not sure where we got the notion that “a bedroom for every child” is the ideal situation. I just know that when we moved from an apartment where I shared a bedroom with my grandmother to one where I had a room of my own I was miserable. But then – what do I know? My 25 year old daughter has horror stories about sharing a bedroom with her 6-years-younger sister. The biggest complaint was “she’d NEVER shut up so I could sleep!” Not a lot of help, am I?
I don’t think it’s unfair at all. I would say to make up rules but for Nessa that would be a bit hard since she’s only three. You would have to maybe help moderating fights but they will soon get it together. I think the older they get the more of a pain in the butt it’s gong to be (when nessa is 6 and Missa is 13 and Nessa is trying to be like Missa) so I say start early! Maybe try it out as a sleepover?
You’re not being unfair at all. While she may complain that her sis is annoying etc, someday she’ll thank you for giving her the opportunity to have her sis as her roomate and friend. To me all you’re doing is to encouraging them to bond. In life we go to our separate routes sometimes, and perhaps this will serve as an opportunity for them to get to know each other, even at that age, because they may never get the opportunity in their lifetime again.
Thanks for all of your advice. I think my 9 yr. old is getting used to the fact that she’ll be sharing a room with her lil’ sister.
Now they “talk” about what color paint they want for the walls.. 🙂
This quote actually made say “awwwww” b/c it’s so true:
-In life we go to our separate routes sometimes, and perhaps this will serve as an opportunity for them to get to know each other, even at that age, because they may never get the opportunity in their lifetime again.
Thanks Hissip!! 🙂
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