It’s so ironic to me the way the boys can fight like alley cats one minute, then you separate them to different rooms, and they cry like they’ve lost a limb. The past couple of weeks have been much, much better at bedtime, but tonight the 4yos needed to be separated, b/c they were picking at each other and being loud in the bedroom. Lane sent Ry to the living room couch with a pillow, blanket and stuffed animal, and Ri laid in his bed crying because he didn’t have anyone to sleep with him. Thankfully, they both settled down in a matter of minutes, but it was hard not to laugh a little.

Growing up with just one brother, we had our own rooms in a 3br house. We shared a room when he was a baby and we lived in base housing, but for as long as I can really remember, I had my own room. That’s why it’s so funny to me when the boys get upset about being in their rooms alone. None of our boys have had their own space until very recently, when we gave the 10yo his own room. Of all the kids, he’s the one who likes solitude. He still occasionally has someone sleep with him, but it’s usually a weekend treat for that other person, and we don’t impose it on him to permit them to invade his space.

I do remember having to share a room with my brother when we had company. I had a larger bed, so when company came, I had to sleep in my brother’s room. I remember hating that very much. Given the choice, I probably would have preferred the couch, but I don’t remember having the option.

There was one night I remember very vividly. We were sleeping together on his twin(?) bed (lol – we were much smaller back then!), and he had a nightmare about ants crawling all over him and biting him. He flailed and kicked and punched, and before I could scramble out from under the covers and off the bed, he’d gotten a few good hits on me. We laughed about it later … well, he and everyone else laughed; I mostly rolled my eyes.

We weren’t very lovey during those years, but oh, how I wish I could hug him now.