The Great Room Swap

Spiderman says, “With great power comes great responsibility.”  I say, “With three girls comes lots of screaming.”  The last few months seemed to have more decibels added daily than I could tolerate.  I felt like the walls of our home might fall down and the neighbors were about to call for intervention.  I was glad the cold spring was keeping our windows shut. 

All three girls decided that they were not happy with their current rooming situation.  The Fifth Element no longer wanted to be in her nursery room alone.  TD and The Comedian were sick of each others faces and habits and yet once bedtime rolled around they all wanted to sleep together.  Except it was more like round 18 of screamfest 2013 complete with body slams off the top bunk.  To say that there was a lot of fighting, lashing out and lack of sleep would be a mild understatement. 

Tranquility and balance was a thing of the past.  Chaos reigned supreme.  Spring break seemed like a death sentence. 

Then, mid-week through our cold war-time off my Mom graciously with tons of mercy took the kids until Easter.  I was ecstatic and ready to spend it not working, but reading old magazines that had piled up, visiting a museum and spending time with H who was also taking time off. We literally waited months for this moment.  Then H had to go out-of-town for work and I was left alone in the house for the first time since before TD was born seven years ago.  That’s when it happened.  The intoxication of freedom combined with an insane need to move and change things up took over.  I walked by the nursery and thought, “What if I just took down the crib?  I can do that alone. She’s not sleeping in there anyway.” 

So I did.  And I put that sucker on the curb for trash day.

Then I took down the valance and put all the nursery decor in a box.  And Freecycled that bitch!  A giddy dance ensued.

 I did the same for the tired, old glider and it was gone to a better home in a daycare not far away.  Suddenly there was nothing left but a closet of clothes and a changing table.  I left the house to actually have some fun and found myself buying bedding for a twin bed and scurrying home.  By 1 a.m. of that same day the closets were switched out and the dresser empty.  The room had totally different furniture in it.  Big girl furniture for a single room.  TD would have her own room again, like before The Fifth Element was born. 

By the time H came home two days later I was almost done with the cleaning and organizing of toys and clothes.  We decided to surprise the girls with the room swap when they came home on Easter Sunday.  Until then we did all the last-minute things and bought The Fifth Element a new mattress.  We didn’t exactly relax like sloths on the couch watching endless hours of Boardwalk Empire and Southland like we thought but we did have more quiet time than the norm and it was restorative and energizing to bring this change into our home.  If our move is delayed another year, at least the girls will be prepared for the new room set-up in advance.

Two weeks later peace has been restored. The girls were beyond happy with the change.  A good screaming occurred.  The younger ones play better together and TD has the space she craves and needs now that she is older.  Bedtime no longer takes 2-3 hours and we are all a lot happier.  When my Mom offered to take the girls for spring break at Christmas none of us had any idea what an impact that would have or how badly that change of scene was really going to be needed.  The ‘Great Room Swap’ restored order into our home and proves once again that blessings occur in ways that we never quite expect.