Jamie1's Profile

MaryWynn:
Im sorry that happened. I would like to think that I am hyper aware of my children's behavior any time we are around other people, and especially when we are in other peoples space, but I have also learned that a lot of parents think that shit is cute. Like really, truly, honest-to-whatever-you-believe-in, think it is absolutely precious when their child climbs up on the coffee table and steps in the crab cakes to put on a tap dance for all the adults trying to have a conversation across this poor coffee table.

I also run into the problem that people think its unnecessary to corral their own children at my house because I have 3, so it must be a zoo, right?
Iv'e found that while it goes against our social training, speaking directly to the child is your best bet.
"Hey, little jr. we don't stand on tables in this house." is a good place to start. If he and mom don't get the hint, be direct and tell her she needs to get her kids under control. You could even be nice about it by asking if there is anything you can do to help.... provide a quite room to calm the girls down in, there is a park a block away if you need to take them for a walk etc...

Our situation is a bit different. With the exception of a very scary night where we had a toddler with an emergency room high fever, none of our kids have so much has sat on our bed.
Our house is bigger than a 4 room apartment, but its not cavernous. We have our room, the kids room a living room thats mostly off limits and a diningroom/kitchen area that we hang out in together.
Keeping the kids out of our bedroom cut's down on their space a bit, but they have plenty of room to play.
I have found, that with 3 kids between the ages of 2 and 3, I need some space that is just for the adults for my own sanity, and when I am feeling sane(er) I'm a better parent.
Worth the trade off in my book.

We have almost the same exact kitchen, same brand, slightly different end piece, but the shape is the same.
I know what you mean when you say it's a high quality piece! We have a different problem.. our kids will still be young enough to use it for years to come, but it is too big for our space. So we are cutting the fridge off! Since it is high quality parts, it's not going to fall apart when we do that. Im excited. I also repainted it white with some accent colors and used scrapbook paper to 'wall paper' the backsplash and inside of the cabinets. That 'each piece a different bright color' hurts my eyes!

If you MUST save it, I would repaint it all one color that goes well with your decor, take the stove knobs off and store them, and make it look more like a cabinet than a kitchen and you can store video game stuff, office supplies etc in it if you think that is worth keeping it like that.

If it helps, painting over the cheesy decor has not seemed to stop any of our kids or their playmates from knowing that it was a play kitchen.

Ive also stored this thing flat for months at a time...it's a breeze to put together and take apart if you get an allen wrench attachment for a socket driver.

Wow. Take a nap, folks. Its just a blog post.

For what its worth to anyone who is bothered by seeing off topic posts, I follow all the 'old' AT blogs via my google reader, and they still come in separated into 5 different blogs.

When I was 14 my parents added a new master bedroom suite to our house, and as the oldest child I got to move into the former "master" in the basement. It was a 15x19 bedroom, with a shower stall bathroom and a 6X10 closet. I moved the top half of my twin over futon bunk bed into the closet (which had no windows, and was probably a fire danger now that I think about it).
After some thrift store allowance purchases I was able to outfit my futon couch with some sofa pillows and an arm chair, a couple of end tables and a little black and white tv!
One corner of my room was a full size office desk (on which my comador, and later my Mac 1 lived) with book shelves, I had a sitting area and even a little "mini kitchen" which was mostly just a shelf with snacks, my mother never did allow me to have a fridge or microwave, which was all I was missing to have my own apartment!
It was the best, coolest, and most awesome room I ever had and I miss it!

I bet once the new wears off it wont get played with every single day. When that happens you can let the air out and put it in a closet and drag it out for special playdates, cold rainy days when you need some help or for a fun sprinkler day outside this summer.

What about building a small platform with casters for the toddler bed to slide under the crib like a trundle, will open up lots of floor space for day time play, and will make it easy to put the bed where ever is best for sleeping.

Wow! What a cool little space, seems like a great size for a 3 year old.
Im so sorry for everything you and your family have been through. I think an RV is a great, and very creative, option!

I agree with the person who suggested not using both upper bunks for storage. I would suggest to have her sleep on one bed (probably upper, but shes young and I dont know how tall the bed is, the lower would work too) and make the other one into a play area.
Which ever bed she is not sleeping in, reinforce the floor with something more firm than a mattress, put a little toy shelf attached to the wall at one end of the bed and make a little play fort for her. A big reading pillow would be a good addition there too.
A ladder might provide some much needed physical play on days that you cant get outside to play.

I like the table in there, but is there any way you could change it up so it has the option of folding flat and moving out of the way?
Another thought could be to put the ladder up the front of the storage closet and have both of the upper bunks for play and toy storage, and close off the table area for household storage. That would also eliminate the risk of heavy items falling off the top bunk. One top bunk could have a hard floor for playing with puzzles and toys that need to stand up and you could leave the mattress in the other for quiet play and reading. Two storage cabinets built around the windows where the table and bench are now should give you the same amount of storage space and you will be able to reach it better.
Another option still; use both upper beds for storage, but take out the table and bench and use all your available surfaces under that bed for play space. Hang monkey bars under the bed, create a little built in space for her to hide under/climb on top of etc.

What are the dimensions on this? I agree with the other posters; it seems silly and unnecessary for anyone with a sink and a flat surface in their home, however I think it might have some awesome potential for wheelchair-using parents. If the base is wide enough and the whole rig could be made to be adjustable height I think it would help a lot of folks who are not able to take advantage of pinning their toddler down on the hallway floor to change a diaper.