York, my petulant almost-14-year-old, is tired of sharing a room with his 11-year-old brother Finn. And who could blame him? Finn is a slob. Plus sharing a room is a complete drag when you’re a teenager. York has been begging for his own room for a couple of years now. When there are six kids in the house, though, space is at a premium. Of course India has her own room because she’s a teenage girl. And they simply must have their own space to sing along with ipods and pretend to be sexy in front of their mirrors. The two other girls share a room. They fight a lot but they both hate being alone so it works. Jasper has his own room. He napped until a few months ago so it was kind of a necessity.
Despite being 4 1/2 Jasper still sleeps in a crib. With the sides up. And bumpers. I know! It’s just that he’s my baby. So what if he can barely stretch out?
So it was decided that on his birthday this Thursday York will be allowed to move into Jasper’s old room and Jasper will move in with Finn. Won’t that be nice?
I’ve been trying to clean and organize a room that may have technically been Jasper’s, but really was more of my storage/craft room. There is fabric all over the place. And scrapbooking junk. And gift bags. And fifteen different colors of tissue paper which are all refusing to stay nicely folded up. And weird odds and ends like the CD’s I bought so the kids could learn French one summer (that good intention lasted for two days), and a silver tea set that I bought for my future daughter before I ever had kids. But it didn’t come with cups, so I’ve never given it to anyone because what fun is a tea set with no cups?
In other words, the room is a complete nightmare right now. Me swapping things around without anyone noticing is laughable. Everything is in disarray. Nothing has a place and that is the worst part about cleaning up. It’s like trying to invent the wheel.
And I have run out of steam.
Stay tuned for part 2: How to paint a room when the bedding hasn’t been chosen but the child has said he “likes orange things”.
(I just like the names of your children. I should take baby name notes from you. Share.)
Oh my goodness! This could be a page out of my diary. That is IF I actually had time to write in a diary and could remember where I kept said diary. We did a switcheroo quite a few months ago and I still have to finish. We moved the boy child upstairs to his sisters old room. Moved the 2 girls into the "master" bedroom and we moved into the downstairs room. I have yet to finish it. Like move the clothes in the closets. Now that the rooms are a complete and total chaotic mess I just don't know where to start though! Good luck with yours! I can't wait to see the finished look!
CRIB BUMPERS?! You have got to get a grip, woman!
Good luck with the switcheroo. We have one in our future but my blood pressure is off the charts whenever I think of it, so I keep procrastinating.
I assume from the fact that you've been trying to do it w/o anyone noticing that this is a surprise? won't he be excited?! I don't think it matters if all there is is a bare cot in the room and white walls when you're done–a teenage boy with his own room for the first time in his life will be ECSTATIC.