two ratchets...

two summers ago my kids voluntarily decided to share a room.  the idea was presented on a typical sunny afternoon.  although it involved a lot of rearranging, i thought why not, they aren't going to want to do this forever.  so we set off moving all of my son's stuff into his sister's room and turned his room into a play area, aka junk haven.

for the next six months i tucked my two darling kiddos into their beds.  every night when i left, miss p would shout out, "see you in the morning" and as i walked down the steps i would shout back, "thanks for the warning".   i would sit downstairs on the couch and listen to them whispering back and forth to each other.

under the cover of darkness, sharing the same space, seemed to be the only time they got along.  i could hear them giggling, telling each other things that they didn't want to say in front of me, and sometimes i could hear miss p helping her bro sound out a word in his book.  they were bonding, solidifying a friendship that will last a lifetime.

i fully expected this arrangement to last about six months.  i figured miss p, in the thick of those preteen years, would want her own space back.  that ash would get tired of his sister's sloppy ways and need his organized clean space back.  to my surprise they shared miss p's room for the whole school year, with very little arguments or complaints about each other.  then for some reason, this summer, they decided to switch rooms, piling all their bedding into junk haven.  camping out on the floor like they were camping.

a month into middle school and my miss p, has decided she definitely needs her own space.  in some fashion these two have been preparing for this moment.  miss p has slowly been arranging and rearranging her room to her complete satisfaction before officially moving back into it.  while ash has been clearing out the junk from his room turning into a space he is comfortable with.

last night was the first time in over a year that they slept in separate rooms.  there is a part of me that is super sad that this journey is over.  no longer will i hear them giggling quietly, or sharing stories of their day, or helping each other without arguments.  however, they made the choice to share a room on good terms and ended on good terms.  i'm super proud of my kiddos for being there for realizing when the novelty has worn off and made adjustments before wringing each other's necks.