Posted on 11/18/2015
In Part 1 we looked at the two basic ways to segment a shared room, and in Part 2 we discussed a few different room-divider styles and options. Of course, at the end of the day, you’re still stuck with two kids sharing a single room for sleep, play, study, etc. And that may make keeping your own sanity and providing for your kids’ individual needs seem like an impossible goal. But let’s think outside the room, for just a minute: Just because your kids share a room doesn’t mean they can’t spend time in other areas of your home.
Individual Times for Parent Connecting
Whether it’s helping you prepare a meal, getting help with homework, or just hanging out and chatting about your day together, it’s important for you as a parent to spend some individual time with each of your kids. You may find that one child thrives on such individual attention, while your other child or children seem to endure it; either way, it is important.
How you structure your individual time with certain children can be key to making it a positive experience. For instance, your introvert may need some alone time to regroup after a full day of being surrounded by other people at daycare or school, so you may want to give that child some much-needed alone time in the kids’ shared room while your extrovert gets to tell you about her day, while she’s still bubbling over with exciting stories! After a while, you can have them switch.
Independent Outings and Special Spots
Just because your child has a bedroom — shared or not — doesn’t mean that’s the only spot in the house that feels like his own. Maybe he really likes the part of the sofa where he can look out the window and see traffic flow by, or perhaps he likes to cuddle in Mom and Dad’s bed for a little while after school.
For those kids who can easily get too much sensory stimulation, it’s helpful if you discuss boundary cues, to allow your child to have “alone time” even in a non-private setting. For instance, you could teach him to express the fact that when he has his headphones on or a book out, he’d like to not be disturbed. If you need to ask him something but it can wait, you can put it on a sticky note by the fridge, which he knows to check when he’s done.
If your children are older, maybe they like to go outside for a bit or even take a walk or a bike ride, on their own. The point is that alone time doesn’t have to be in a private bedroom or even indoors. (After all, depending on how your home is structured, you may not even spend much time in your own bedroom, other than while you’re actually in bed.)
As you and your children grow toward understanding each other’s personal needs and accommodating them, you’ll all grow relationally and become better suited to understanding those outside your family, too.
From the Bedroom Source blog:
- Bellamy Collection: Perfect Pieces for Your Little Princess
- Keeping the Christmas Magic... for Bedtime?
- Basic FAQs Regarding Bunk Bed Safety
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