room tour: three kids in one bedroom.

Some people prefer reading posts like this, other people prefer watching stuff like this in video format... so I thought I'd do both today!  Here's a quick tour of our upstairs kids' room.

Penelope, Laurelai, and Rocco all share one room.  It is also the only room on the main level that houses any toys, so it has to accommodate a lot without feeling like a sardine can.



Basically, we have a twin bed for Penelope, a crib for Rocco, and a toddler mattress for Laurelai that trundles under Penelope's bed during the day to give the kids plenty of room to play.

When the kids wake up in the morning, it's their responsibility to make their beds - which, for the girls, means tag-teaming to get Laurelai's bed pushed under Penelope's, and putting both girls' pillows and blankets neatly onto Penelope's bed.  (Rocco's bed usually just stays messy.  Oh well.)

The toys we keep in here are kitchen/toy house items, as well as dolls, Barbies, Little People, and My Little Ponies.  I find it makes it easier for the kids to keep everything organized when there are clear categories for things - we don't have many straggly toys that don't fit a clear category, if that makes sense.

The bin to the right of the kitchen holds toy food and toy brooms; the baskets on top hold Barbies and Little People.

These bins are kept in the closet, out of the way unless they're actively being used for play.

We also keep a couple of bookshelves in here for kids' books and special items.  The two wicker baskets on the bottom shelf are for the girls to keep their special 'treasures' in - anything that is special to them that they'd like to keep out of reach of the other kids.  I think it's important when sharing rooms to give them even just a small space that is intensely personal.

And that's the official tour of their room!  You'll get a much better 'feel' of the space if you watch the video.  Tomorrow, I'll be answering your questions about the logistics of room-sharing with this many kids: bedtimes, wake times, routines, and whether they wake each other up in the middle of the night.  Stay tuned!