When Ruby was born, the crib that I painstakingly polished and painted, died a quick death. There I was, a co-sleeper true and true. Now, I know that co-sleeping doesn't work for everyone...and sometimes in certain circumstances it can be unsafe, but for us, it was just meant to be. The advice I got from fellow co-sleepers was, "just enjoy it...it won't last forever...it's not like your 13 yr old is going to want to sleep with you." Well...I don't know if I can wait another 5 years to find out...I have had children in my bed for 8 years now...do I love it still? Errrrrrr...not so much! I'll tell you right now that the only action my bed sees is when the kids jump and bounce on it with their friends...so in a nutshell, it ain't workin' no more!
Soooo...how do I discreetly get the children out of our bedroom??? Well...it all starts with some fushia paint.
I figure in order to make this work, I have to let Ruby play interior designer...we're getting bunkbeds, (at her request), the walls are getting painted "hot pink", and I'll be hard at work the next week or two making this a bedroom that 2 little girls will LOVE! I started having panic attacks as I'm painting away...I've never painted a room this colour...it's not my choice, but then Ruby comes in and declares, "ohhhhhh, it's perfect!" and little Matilda says "I LOVE it!!"
I'll be sure to share some "after" pictures, but for now, grab a paper bag and hyperventilate with me while we bask in the pink!
xo maureen
ps...any decorating advice...advice on places to get wonderful prints, etc...would be MOST welcome!
ps...any decorating advice...advice on places to get wonderful prints, etc...would be MOST welcome!
Oh mama! I feel you! Our rooms were never hot pink {first three kiddos are boys:-)} But we had a time getting each of them out of the family bed. It was easiest with the middle two though. We waited until the oldest (of the middle children) was 4.5 and the youngest was 2 years. Then we let them help decorate their bedroom, and got them bunk beds. They played on the top bunk and slept on the bottom one together, piled on top of each other in a tangle of little limbs like puppies! They still sleep together at 10 and 7! It was easier for them to make the move from our bed when they still had someone to cuddle with at night! Now I'm still co-sleeping with our 15 month old and am expecting our 5th babe in Sept... looks like it's getting crowded in here again!
ReplyDeleteI've got two boys in bed with me now. But they're still littles. They're not staying forever, LOL. Can't wait to see the new room!
ReplyDeleteElla would love that bedroom. She loves anything that reminds her of "Fancy Nancy" books. The way I figure it with children's rooms is -you're not the one sleeping there, let them have their colour. We haven't redone Ella's room yet, but then we didn't use 'baby' paper either. I wish our plaster wasn't in such a mess and could paint. Ella's very excited to decorate her own room.
ReplyDeleteCo-sleeping would have made Ella's baby years easier on me but it didn't suit us. Also, we'd never get Ella out of our bed. As it is I have a hard time getting back to my own bed if I sleep with Ella (in her bed) for a night or two.
Rachel's idea sounds good. Let them sleep together in the new room. That way it's not so different.
Good luck.
Paula
I love the pink--and I am not a pink person. It is vibrant without looking neon. I would love to get our girls out of our room, but we have no where else to put them! At least Larkspur sleeps in her own twin next to our bed, but Beatrix just won't sleep on her own! I have no idea how things will work when the new baby comes in May.
ReplyDeleteOh, you are SO gonna be the "Fun Mom" that has all the other kids running to their Moms asking for pink bedrooms!!! Your little girlies are going to be happy in their new room, I'm sure :)
ReplyDeleteOur daughter lasts in her crib until around midnight, and then it's to bed with us. Keeps us all sane so far, but down the road we'll also be decorating her room and encouraging her to use her own bed!!
ReplyDeleteI am laughing WITH you! When we moved into our new home, I craved a space to sleep with just my partner. So, we let Leaf choose the color of her room- RED! We compromised on some of the decor, she "allowed" me to choose a complimentary blue for some of the walls because she really wanted me to lay in bed with her. I found some Inuit prints of penguins, a batik wall hanging with "peace" in multiple languages, a colorful new rug, a red lamp... she loves her space and prefers to sleep there! Sure, there are still discussions about why Mama is too big to sleep comfortably in her little bed and she knows she is always welcome in our bed. Each morning she joins us just before dawn, but our room is not as cozy to her. Giving her a special place with her things has been a gift to our whole family. I cannot believe she moved into her own bed before she turned 3!
ReplyDeleteI recommend making prayer or blessing flags with the girls to hang in their room. It's a great way to set intentions and create positive energy in a space, and for the girls to feel ownership in creating their special place. (http://www.karunaarts.com/ is a good source)
Good luck and have fun with this new chapter in life!
I LOVE IT!! IT'S PERFECT!! It's a great colour, really...and I can't believe that you did this between when I left your house at 5 last night and this morning! Amazing, as always. I don't know how you get any rest at all. When R and I crawl into bed at night, we sleep well and have time to cuddle in the morning before everyone is up. Our kids all sleep together, which is co-sleeping in a way...no one is lonely! Do what works, change it when it stops working...Violet has been clamouring for a pink room...maybe in a few years!!
ReplyDeleteWe are a co-sleeping family, too. Fortunately, our two boys transitioned easily to their (now shared) room. Both moves meant redecorating to ramp up the excitement of the transition! Good luck :)
ReplyDeleteLibraries, Book stores, Museums and Parks and Rec can be a source of prints ...sometimes totally free
ReplyDeleteDust Jacket covers from books can make nice prints as can covers/pages from favourite paperback picture books.
We made simple pillowcases and cushion covers from cheap white sheets (75 cents each) and decorated them with sharpies (what we had at the time.... fabric paints would be better but the sharpie designs have survived washings)
There is a nice Milly Molly Mandy Story about moving out of her parents room into a room of her own that is rather nice ..also A naughty little sister story by Dorothy Edwards about moving into your own bed that's a goodie too.
To cuddle.. Cheryl at time to craft designed really nice Heat bag covers
http://www.timetocraft.co.uk/?p=3328
You could always frame the kids artwork for the walls ..Walmart has some nice inexpensive simple plastic/acrylic type poster frames ??? (it has pricey ones too just burrow in their stick for the reasonable ones)
I would not worry about Artistic effect or the pink...if it keeps them happily in their OWN room it has a wonderful artistic merit that is priceless !!!!
I laughed out loud at "grab a paper bag and hyperventilate with me." Got my bag ready!
ReplyDeletedo you know what i love about it .... that it celebrates who SHE is ... that says a lot ... being in Early childhood education -- i can tell you that you have allowed the room to say " i love being me !!" and for children that is soooo valuable at this age ! Good for you sweet loving mama.... you should be proud of yourself..... maybe some lovely rice paper lanterns from the ceiling .... you never know .... xoxox light and peace
ReplyDeleteI have 7 children. 2 of them still co-sleeping. The thing that worked best for us was setting up a special space that they decorated (like you're doing now!) and having a buddy to now co-sleep with away from mommy and daddy. So there are 3 bedrooms being used for children, 2 to a bedroom (er... technically there's one bedroom with only one kid as the toddler still climbs in bed with us). They like having another person in the room with them, and I have to say, so do I!
ReplyDeleteHilarious, we are doing the exact same thing this weekend but not in pink. I actually really miss having Zach (almost age 7) in our bed, but aboard a boat it's just not possible. The bed is too small and there is no way for it to get bigger. So we've been a split family with Daddy and Zach in one room and me with the baby in another. This weekend is the big room makeover Phase 1. Fresh paint, rainbow bedspread, a lit up ceiling, whatever it takes.
ReplyDeleteOh I'd be freaking out at the pink too! At least the girls love it... For art you could check out the 'feed your soul' free art project: http://indiefixx.com/Feed_your_soul/downloads.html
ReplyDeleteWe're co-sleepers too, but at the beginning of our journey as our first is only two and our second is yet to arrive. I'll look forward to an update as I have hopes for a similar plan when we reach the, uh, 'done' stage :)
I have to second the 'you can cuddle with each other' idea. Our girls share a room and we call it the Sister Room. We really worked hard to make it a fun, sister-y place with lots of pairs of stuffed animals ('look! yellow mice with dresses! they're sisters!) etc. They have special music they can listen to in there, and special reading lights. It's not pink...but they did choose the color (a very mature taupe!)
ReplyDeleteGood luck-
we have purple if it makes you feel any better....
ReplyDeleteYay! Once the room is all decorated, the pink will be less overwhelming. I have a panic attack every time that we paint, even when it's me that has selected the colour. It just never seems to turn out as I envisioned. But once things are hung on the walls, area rugs are scattered on the floor, and cushions are tossed on couches or beds, it all comes together. And really? Pink is a wonderful stepping stone on the path of growing up. Good on you, mama - honouring Ruby's voice! (But I may not be so enthusiastic when Middling starts badgering for a pink room, thank you very much! ;-)
ReplyDeleteOh thank you mammas...for your loving support, (and ability to laugh along with me)! I have to say that I think I'll be able to work with this...I'm thinking lots of white and yellow accents, some bright pictures...yes, I think this will work. As we're painting the trim, (crisp clean white), it actually looks better. I thank you for the great suggestions and links...I'll be sure to incorporate some of those ideas! I mean, the best part of this all is that we're going to get our bedroom back...that's worth pink with purple polkadots on the wall as far as I'm concerned!!
ReplyDeletexox maureen
LOVE the pink! Wall stickers work great because you can peel them off when you are done and it is a quick change :). We also recycle a lot of magazine pictures with decoupage and collage. I'm putting up a writing wall for our son very soon, So he has a place to add his own artistic expressions on a HUGE canvas ;). Good luck with the transition. Our son is still very much a co-sleeper. He has two rooms he can call his own, but he still ends up crawling in with us quite a bit :).
ReplyDeleteI spent a few years in a living room that was painted in "English Rose"- it should have been called Ye Olde English Pink. I hated it. I hated it from day one, and the only thing that kept me from painting it over straight away was my then- husbands puppyface when he surprised me with it... it took him ages to admit that he hated it, too. ("I thought that when it dries, it'd turn darker!")
ReplyDeleteBUT... if your kiddos love their self- chosen colour, I suppose the paper bag really is all you can do! My first self- chosen interior makes my eyes water in retrospect, but mini- me adored it top to bottom. Bottom being a greyish- blue carpet with multicoloured "sprinkles". Yuck.
I swear the only pink I can stand to this day is pink kitty paws!
oh man, this post couldnt have come at a better time..
ReplyDeletemy mom and I got into a fight over the phone today....she doesn't agree with co-sleeping and a slew of other parenting choices we have made (out of nothing but love and comfort for everyone!)
she doesn't understand why "kids these days aren't expected to fall asleep on their own". My son is 19 months old, and I think it is perfectly well and healthy for a babe to need his mommy for any reason at all. It's not like he's 13 hopping in bed with us!
I can imagine after 8 years...a change is an order. We also see no lovin' action in bed (erm, we would like to have another baby...I guess a couch conception is our best bet! haha!!) and sometimes I just want to roll over and sprawl out. But all I need to do is look at my little boy, eyes closed, chest rising and falling...and I remember over and over again why we are a co-sleeping family.
My mom is hurt that I dont ask her more often for parenting advice. It would be like asking a podiatrist for a root canal...we use a very different approach then she did 25 years ago. ::sigh:: I love her, but sometimes, it is just so ...tough.
xoxoxo to you both, lovely ladies.
I think the pink looks great, though I admit it is one of my favorite colors. Anything else pink in the room would probably be too much though!
ReplyDeleteWe always co-slept, oldest was in our bed for five years, and then a few beyond that with youngest, I guess it was about 8 years for us too. I do miss it though, sometimes wish we still all fit. Our girls now share a room, got to pick the color, a nice pale blue, and although there are two twin beds in the room they always sleep together in just one bed...
I got all my inspirations from ohdeedoh and all my prints from etsy. Oh how I love etsy.
ReplyDeleteI love your discreet references to "action" in the bed. So important (and difficult) to balance "married" life with "mama" life!
ReplyDeleteFor art work, checkout "Alphabet Wallcards" made by eeBoo. The "Fairies in the Garden Alphabet Wall Cards" are especially sweet!
These picture frames are awesome for a rotating gallery of prints or kids' artwork. The frame also stores 50 pages of past work. We have 3 in a row along a wall. They can be horiz or vertical. Aaron Bros also sells one that is for that bigger kids' paper, like 11x17. ... other companies sell similar.
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