We recently put the kids in together, thinking a shared room could combat both sleepless nights and tricky bedtime routines. Our children have never been the biggest fans of sleeping through, and at two and four, it seemed as good a time to try it as any. Despite reservations that one sibling might disturb the other, it’s actually worked out incredibly well. Stories now happen simultaneously, making things much simpler, given that L and T can be a bit of a tough crowd to please. Acting out the full works of Charlie & Lola, The Gruffalo and Peppa Pig was never the easiest task while running between separate rooms.
Fast forward a few weeks, and those magical early starts are now a case of the littlies wreaking havoc in their bedroom, while we grab several more minutes sleep. I’ve found that precious extra snooze-time easily outweighs the worry of trashed toys and a destroyed bedroom. Saturday is different though, as we let the early birds sneak into our bed to watch a film and try their hardest not to wriggle about, bash or wake us. An elbow to the face almost feels affectionate by now.
Recently, mornings and bedtimes have been hijacked by multiple family games of I Spy. Theo has his own unique take on proceedings, which under no circumstances must participants disobey. Guesses at the mystery item he’s referring to are swiftly followed by a resounding and forceful “nope”. After approximately thirty seven attempts, each and every game ends with the big reveal of us all getting it wrong, and the answer quite obviously being “horsie”.
The horsie in question is Mr T’s latest Toy Story favourite, Bullseye. Quietly creeping downstairs the other day thinking my little angels were sound asleep, I rushed back up to a loud stomping sound, and shouts of “gee up, Bulls-aye”. I found Theo attempting to ride the soft toy over Lyla’s bed, wearing wellies as gloves and using his sister’s necklace to make him to go faster. That’s one side effect of room sharing that I definitely hadn’t thought of.
Click here to check out the best holiday beauty products