mountain aven baby's Profile

we have two girls (now 3.5 and 6yrs) who have been sharing a room since they were 6mo and 3yrs. it's worked out really well. there have been some little phases where one of them has trouble sleeping, but i feel like that would happen even if they had their own rooms. we put them to bed at different times so the youngest one is usually asleep when the older one comes to bed, which helps with them staying up too late or keeping one another up. when they were both napping (which didn't last long) we did have the baby sleep in a pack n play in our room if need be, but it was a really minor adjustment to the norm and not a big deal in the long run. they LOVE sharing their room and it's been a great solution for us for many reasons. good luck!

love it! i have just the right (large) space for this and it's a great way to make a great temporary display on a wall that will eventually come down... not spending much to do it is even better!

we've made two variations of a under-swingest playhouse over the last two years and my kids have LOVED it! the first summer, we wrapped fabric painter's drop cloth around to make walls (complete with windows cut out) but honestly, it didn't stand up well at all. it was a waste of time and money, even though it was cheap. this year, we used reclaimed wood and built walls, with a door, window, and "drive up" half wall on one side. this was the way to go! we already had grass/stone underneath so didn't bother with the floor. it was an easy weekend project, cost nothing because the wood was reclaimed and it's totally fun and safe for small kids. you can see pics on these two blog posts: http://gooseandroo.wordpress.com/2011/06/13/colorphile/ and http://gooseandroo.wordpress.com/2011/06/09/full-bloom/

p.s. i agree that sandboxes are fabulous, mess and all, but having a cover goes a long way for keeping out the pets and the rain :)

here is the link to the maker (they have several other designs), by the way. we put it on an extension cord and tacked it to a bookshelf so they could easily see it. it's nice to know you don't need a $40 clock to tell your kids when it's time to get up ;)

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=butterfly+LED+night+light&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=Hgi&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=ivns&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&biw=1920&bih=866&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=16260288162595986791&sa=X&ei=X_ffTfCPJYiCsQOk0MSiBw&ved=0CFcQ8wIwAQ

i have an recently turned 5 year old and a 2.5yr old and they have been sharing a bedroom since the littlest one was about 6mo old. we staggered bedtime to begin with, to accomodate a toddler and a nursing baby. this worked well (nursing the baby and putting her down, then bringing the toddler in a half hr later after reading books in another room). on occasion they would wake each other up in the night, but they both got used to the shared sleep space and they never wake each other up now.

there was a problem that developed this spring of the little one keeping the big one up at bedtime. since the 2.5yo still naps, she isn't quite as tired at the normal bedtime, but her older sister definitely is. the little one was talking and playing and keeping them both up. so we explained to them that if they couldn't be quiet and go to bed when they were supposed to, that we would separate them at bedtime (having the older sleep in our bed to fall asleep and then move her). we did this one night and that was all it took. they REALLY didn't like this, and the thought of not sharing a room was enough to get them to quiet down and get to sleep. not my normal way of dealing with discipline issues, but it worked really well in this case.

as for wake ups, we have a night light on a timer and it works like a charm. they know they aren't allowed to be loud and wake the other until the light comes on. it took a few days of reinforcing the idea and it's been smooth since.

all of these things work for us because they've been doing it for two years now. there were hiccups and troubleshooting periods, but we stuck with it and it's worked out beautifully. we (and they!) wouldn't have it any other way.

hmmm... i agree that there are harmful bacteria in places we don't usually think about it, but i think this is overkill. sure i wipe things down and try to get the gunk out of the random corners of things, but if i see a list of a dozen items i 'need' to clean my sink... i'm gonna click right on past it! overkill for sure.

oh, tough call because it's such a beautiful mural! honestly though, i would suggest repainting it. i know, i know. but you have to look at it through a different lens... not all potential buyers want or have kids, nor do many of them want to add to their list of things that have to be changed when they purchase the home.

we sold our house this fall, with a one year old and a 3.5 year old and it was ALOT of work. but it's not impossible! one thing that helped me alot was to temporarily downsize the toys and normal kid clutter. it got tossed into rubbermaid tubs and neatly stacked away. this helped alot on show days as there was simply less to clean up. as for cleaning (around kids), we spent more time when we could just maintaining order and basic cleaning... that way when the realtor called and said, "can we show your house in an hour?!" we didn't have that much more to do before we had to get out of the house. wipe down the counters, put toys and clothes away, maybe run the vacuum and we were out of there.

good luck!!!

love this! we live in a really cold place and have atleast 6 months of winter, so the idea of hiding away for the half the year is not an option! for younger kids, we like building snow forts around the yard-- they can let their imagination run wild, it's different, loads of fun, and doesn't require a special skill (like skating) for littles. would make an awesome playdate or party!

we just used ben moore's Storm and looooove it. it's not bluish but is a nice, lighter, neutral gray. they sell it in testers too, though it looked totally different once the entire room was painted!

we've used the stars to light the steps of my daughters bunkbed and to place on the rails, so she can see better at night if she needs to get up.