This Is Life!

First things first...here are the bunk beds set up in Paprika's room! Let's just say that Tuesday, the first night of having the bunk beds, was very interesting...




My favorite thing about keeping this blog is going back and looking at posts from years ago- the most candid ones are my favorite and really bring me back to that time in life.

I really want to remember that night. People (usually without small kids) often wonder why everything takes so long when you have small children. Well, here ya go. This was bedtime on Tuesday. I realize no one besides me probably wants to read this...but I just have to write it down!

Mr. M was working very late that night (he worked until 5am, in fact)- so I knew I would be putting the girls to bed by myself. No biggie...happens a lot. Well, since it was the first night of the bunk beds, I put Ginger to bed first in her room because I knew Paprika might take some adjusting.

Long story short, we bought these bunk beds kind of on impulse...we have missed things on Craigslist before and knew this might be one of those "ones that got away" if we didn't snatch it up. Needless to say, we were ill-prepared since we didn't have some twin-sized mattresses ready to go.

In hindsight, we probably should have stored the bunk beds in the garage until we were really ready for them, but Paprika was so excited about it we wanted to build on that momentum.

We figured we could skate by with an air mattress for a night or two, and it would be fine.

Earlier in the day, I had gone to Target and gotten a twin-sized air mattress to put on the bed. But it was too short. After blowing it up and checking it out, it just didn't work. So, we packed it back up and returned it, and I got a plush, thick air mattress that seemed pretty darn good!

I set it up on the bottom bunk and made the bed look as good as it could. I even put two pillowtop mattress covers on it to make it extra plush. Overall, it was pretty impressive for an air mattress, if I do say so myself.

I put Ginger to bed and afterwards when I came into Paprika's room to put her to bed, she was crying. She did NOT want to sleep on the bottom bunk, she wanted to sleep on the top bunk. She was inconsolable.

So, even though I had made the bed and put all the extra stuff up on top, I told her I would switch the mattress to the top bunk. I hoisted it up there, got it all situated, and re-made the bed (since of course the sheets had come loose).

Then I realized that the air mattress was far too thick for the top bunk - it peeked over the top rail, which is a major safety hazard. So, I told her I was going to have to deflate it a bit to make it the right size.

Deflated it. But then, the mattress covers and the fitted sheet would not stay on in the deflated state of the mattress. So, I wrestled the covers and fitted sheet for awhile until they were passable.

Then Paprika was too scared to climb the ladder, and insisted that she sleep on the bottom bunk. I tried coaxing her up to the top bunk, but she started to cry and would not go.

So, you guessed it...I moved the mattress down to the bottom bunk. Of course all the covers and sheets fell off, so I had to re-make the bed. I re-inflated the bed (hoping not to wake up Ginger in the process!), because now that it was on the bottom bunk, I wanted it to be comfortable for her and it really wasn't comfortable half deflated.

She crawled into the bottom bunk and started to cry again. She now had the courage to sleep on the top bunk, and really really really wanted to try it. Could I please move the bed back up top?

So...you guessed it! I moved the mattress again up to the top bunk, partially deflated it, and re-made the bed as best I could.

Now, mind you...I still had to read stories to Paprika, sing her songs, and do the whole night-time routine.

I hoisted my 5 month pregnant behind up the ladder, sat on the very deflated air mattress (which was most uncomfortable)...and read her a story from her Strawberry Shortcake anthology, then did the night-night songs.

Climbed down the ladder and turned out the light. Then, I started my night-time cleaning routine (basically making the house look like a bomb did not go off earlier in the evening). Then, I took Daisy outside to go to the bathroom. Fed our ferral cat, Meg.

Finally settled down to have a glass of water and relax....when I hear crying!

I go to the door of Paprika's room and she's sobbing uncontrollably. She can't sleep on the top bunk. She has to sleep on the bottom bunk. The top bunk is too scary.

So, you guessed it. I re-inflate the mattress and move it to the bottom bunk. I re-make the bed, and put on the mattress covers and the sheets. Instead of neatly folding everything else, I toss it to the side and decided to deal with it in the morning.

Now, Paprika is finally happy and ready to rest.

I go to check on her 15 minutes later, and she is asleep. Yay! Success!

By this time it is almost 2am, and I am really pretty darn exhausted but I need to unwind. I get in bed, read a few blogs on my laptop, take the dog out one more time, and turn out the lights a little after 3 AM.

What do you know...who should wake up two hours later, at 5:00 AM? Paprika! Now she is awake and will not go back to sleep, not even in our bed.

Running on just three hours sleep, she decides she is up for the day. I spend a good hour trying to get her to sleep, then give up and put on a Barney video for her. Then, I have to take Daisy out and feed her breakfast. By the time I am just falling back asleep, the construction across the street starts just shy of 7:30am.

I decide that I, too, am up for the day...but dreading it because Paprika has swim lessons and school today, and I know she will be tired. But you know what? She wasn't tired at all. She did her swim lesson, did the best in preschool she's ever done, came home and played, and did not fall asleep that night until after 11pm. Yup!

But...I made sure that the second night of sleeping in the bunk beds would be better than the first. Because after I put on Barney for Paprika, got Ginger up and dressed, and got the girls breakfast...I went to the mattress store and got two very plush, nice twin-sized mattresses! I really could not handle another air-mattress kind of night.

I ended up getting two floor model mattresses- they are super nice, and because they were floor models, they were practically a steal. No one has actually slept on them, and we are putting waterproof, thick mattress covers on them anyway, so I figure it's okay. Right? Is that gross? I don't know. They looked new to me! The saleslady said they had just been on the floor for a few weeks and they wanted to rotate them out for the July 4th weeekend.

When the saleslady told me they could not deliver until Sunday, possibly Friday...I decided that just was not going to work. So, after going to Home Depot and being aced out of an hourly rental truck, we ended up at U-Haul and rented a truck for the day. By 2pm, the mattresses were set up in Paprika's room, ready to be slept on!

Of course, Paprika was not ready for bed for nine more hours. But when it was time for bed, Paprika told me she had to sleep on the top bunk, I said: Baby, you are going to have to earn that. Show me you can sleep until it's bright and sunny tomorrow, and I will let you sleep up there tomorrow night.

I took the ladder out of the room, so there really is no way she can get up there.

When I went in to check on her 20 minutes later, she was asleep. And she stayed asleep. Hallelujah!



Not that it was all bad. Earlier in the night, Ginger really wanted to see the top bunk, so I let her climb up there (supervised, of course)- and Paprika soon followed. They were chanting: We're the kings of the castle!

I am really glad the ladder detaches so easily. I have been storing the ladder out of reach of the girls so they can't go up there without me supervising...

So, that was our first night with the bunk beds! If you are still reading, I commend you. It was one of those nights that make you stronger as a parent. Ha!