It was time that E and V each had their own bedroom. Is this preferred? Nope. We don’t have a big house and have lost our movement room–but it was necessary. One of the girls likes to stay up a bit later than her sister but wants her sister to keep her company and play along. Her sister does not want to be awake, much less play. So, in order to respect their different sleeping habits and needs, two bedrooms it is.

While this was necessary, that doesn’t mean it didn’t take time, adjustments, and much understanding while we worked on what each child needed. But, here we are with what seems to be a pretty solid routine again. That being said, I want to be very clear that we listen to what each E and V need. At one point it seemed that they wanted to be in the same room again, so that’s what we did, but it was a false alarm that lasted for only a few weeks.

Has this impacted their relationship? Yes, positively. This was something that I was worried about because after a nap they really enjoy the time they have together, often closing the door on me when I would go to greet them. The first week seemed off as they tried to adjust, but since they seem almost closer and I like to think this is because they are both getting what they need and are being respected.

E was the one who swapped rooms so that she could be in the room with the rocking chair. There are times E needs an extra snuggle and I wanted to make sure she had the proper environment for that. Both E and V helped move and rearrange their rooms, so they had a say in what happened–we wanted them to be as involved in this process as they liked.

The biggest thing we noticed was that they don’t really play in their rooms as they did when sharing a room, at least not upon waking. E plays before she decides to settle down for a nap, which has been the whole purpose of this new sleeping arrangement, so that’s a great sign that we are doing just what is needed. V, as before, goes straight to sleep–she’s a busy gal who needs lots of rest.

When she wakes, I have noticed that V may play with an item, like a tin box, but not for long before she is ready to play with her sister. I’m still in the process of finding the ideal materials for each of them in their rooms. For bedroom materials, I try to have items that aren’t too engaging, have been mastered, and yet are still something they enjoy. If it’s too engaging, they’ll be more occupied working on that to sleep or too stimulated. Why have materials in the bedroom at all? So that they may unwind and go to sleep as their body needs. I think many of us can’t just lay in bed and fall straight to sleep, we often read or play on our phones–so why would we expect our children to fall instantly to sleep?

Do your children share a room?

*Update: E and V have decided to go back to sharing a room.

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