Sharing A Room (and School Sagas)!

I got a quick snapshot of Paprika and Ginger on Day 2 of school. That day, I drove them there! Ha! The parking situation is a bit of a nightmare- the morning kindergarten gets out 5 minutes before the afternoon class starts, so there is absolutely nowhere to park. The school doesn't have a parking lot, and we are all expected to walk up to the classroom and wait with our children...and Paprika's classroom is the hardest to get to and we have to shimmy through all the waiting kids and parents (100 or more) just to get to her class. So, by the time I drive to school, park, get the kids out, find the class, and wait, say goodbye, tear Ginger away from school, load her back in the car, and drive home...it takes the better part of an hour. Same for pickup! School is only 3 hours long, so it all seems a little silly (and exhausting!)

I have half a mind just to show up to school 15 minutes late every day just for easy parking! Not really, but it has crossed my mind!

I was soooo worried about Paprika starting developmental kindergarten. Her class is all boys except for her and two other little girls. She has made a friend in one little girl, and it makes her so happy to go to school and see her. If it weren't for this little girl, I think Paprika would be miserable. So, I am crossing my fingers and toes that the little girl stays put in the class. Ha!

Paprika told me that the boys in the class are really rowdy, don't pay attention, fight, run around, yell...just a million things. She said that every day the boys scream at each other, and she goes to the corner and puts her hands over her ears so she doesn't have to hear them. That broke my heart.

But then I told her that I would move her to a different class if she didn't like it, and she said that she loved her class and didn't want to move to a different class. So, I am taking that as a good sign! I am also keeping tabs on how she feels, and we'll just take it one week at a time.



The other big change for the girls is that they are sharing a room now! I was fine with having them in separate bedrooms, but they both want so badly to share a room. Ginger was crying every night when she went to bed in her old room (she done with the crib, and wanted to sleep with Yaya). Paprika doesn't like sleeping alone either.

So, every night we say that if they are really good, we will let them sleep together in Yaya's room! We kept Ginger's crib assembled in the other room, so if they are troublemakers, then Ginger gets taken back to the crib. We've only had one instance of troublemaking (by Ginger), and we took her back to her crib for three minutes before we brought her back to Yaya's room (she was soooo upset to go to her crib). Since then, I am happy to report there has been relatively little troublemaking! ;-)



We took the bunk beds apart and made two separate twin beds out of them, which takes up almost the whole bedroom! Ha! But they love it.

The downside is that now both girls aren't sleeping quite as well at night. When one wakes up in the morning, inevitably they wake the other one up. But, that's getting a little better.

Also, this sleeping in a twin bed thing has pretty much meant the end of Ginger's nap during the day. I put her in there for a nap, and when I come in 5 minutes later, she's turned on all the lights and taken all the clothes out of the dresser. Or taken all the princess dresses out of the closet and put them on. Or thrown all the books off the shelves.



So, I guess I need to figure that out or just let her give up her nap altogether. Paprika was even younger when she stopped napping completely (she stopped napping before her second birthday). I know it is crazy early, but that's just how our kids are. We call them "sleepless elite" because they really only require a very very small amount of sleep. It's a real thing...here's an article from the Wall Street Journal about that. Anyway, I always worried it would affect Paprika's growth, but seeing as how she is as tall as an average 7 year old (at age 5), I think she's done okay.



The upside to sharing a room is that it makes story time at night that much easier! I just need to find some books that engage both girls. The ones that are good for Ginger are too easy for Paprika, and Paprika's books are too complicated. So, again, we're figuring that out.

One of the sweetest things is seeing them both sleeping soundly when we go in to check on them. This picture was taken basically in the dark with my shutter all the way open (and my flash off). The light in the corner is the girls' nightlight, which was the only source of light in the room.



The girls want to sleep with Daisy in their bedroom, but so far that's not working so well because Daisy is the biggest troublemaker of all! ;-) But who knows, maybe soon. A few months ago, I never thought these two would be sharing a room now, and Ginger would be out of her crib! Next thing you know, you'll probably be seeing a picture of a Daisy's dog bed in between their two bunks. Ha!