When It’s Time to Change, You’ve Got to Rearrange
Tell me you love the Brady Bunch half as much as I do!
I grew up on afterschool Brady Bunch reruns, and I could probably beat any of you (minus my brother, but he’s probably not reading anyway) in a Brady Bunch Trivia showdown.
If you’re not familiar with the Brady’s, “Here’s the Story” on this clip. Greg wanted to make a “record” (it’s the prehistoric way people used to listen to music) with his 5 siblings. However, Peter’s voice begins to change, so they had to improvise.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyooALwfxO8]Peter Brady, we identify with you. There’s been lots of CHANGING, REARRANGING, and IMPROVIZING in our lives lately!
The boys are settled in their new room that your valued input helped inspire. The colors turned out so well! We ended up using a handful of the storybook frames on the wall, and saving the rest for a future reading corner. There’s a few finishing touches to be made, but it’s functional!
So did you notice there are a couple of cribs missing from this picture?
Yep. It’s true. We separated them temporarily. Change is hard, but often necessary.
Our boys have sooooo much fun together in their cribs, but the “so much fun” turned into TOO MUCH FUN, in the form of a nap revolt for nearly a week. I know that many kids stop taking naps around this age, but I’m not ready to throw in the towel just yet. Besides, mamas know their own children, and I know that my boys NEED their mid-day naps on a regular basis. Sometimes there are exceptions, and I’m thankful that there is some flexibility with this stage, but the week long absence led to a very difficult week of fighting, whining, disobedience, and discontentment. This left me stressed, worn down, and grumpy to say the least.
Needless to say, it was time for a change. Our intention was to move all 4 boys into the freshly painted room, but this called for improvising. Isaac and Henry moved over to the new digs (their cribs were the easiest to disassemble) and Clark and Brooks stayed put for now. When they outgrow the cribs, we hope to put them back together again.
My heart was sad to see them in two separate rooms for the first time since the NICU, but it’s fixed the nap issue. So the benefits are far outweighing the costs. Oh and it’s super precious to see them run into each others rooms in the morning to “wake" each other up. They run, jump, wave, and scream like they haven’t seen each other in years!
So for now the “Bunch” will sleep 2 by 2, because….
When It’s Time to Change, You’ve Got to Rearrange!
Sha Na Na Na, Na Na Na Na Na, Sha Na Na Na Na,
As I was so sad to separate my twins into different rooms (my little girl screamed due to reflux and would wake my son) my husband said "we are the parents and we have to make the call." He was right but oh how it broke my heart to do…
The room looks awesome.
So glad you are getting your peace and regrouping time now that they are napping.
Curious to know if they noticed the change in their bedtime routines?
Suzanne
I am lovin' the Brady Bunch right now 🙂 YAHOO for the nap being back 🙂
~Elyse
The room looks just adorable! LOVE the Brady's (we have them on DVD. LOL)
Like what I see! Jackson is 5 and still needs a little one – ok, maybe I need for him to nap! 😉
I love the Brandy Bunch! Your blog is great. I have lots to learn I have just begun!
The room looks great. Love the colors!!! Good job!!
I had to separate my girl/boy twins at naptime at about that age too. Ours coincided with moving them into toddler beds (all that freedom!) It fixed the naptime problem for us too, and they just gave up naps this summer at age 5 (good thing, as they just started all day kindergarten).
If I recall correctly your boys are a month younger then my daughter (she was born Dec 24, 2006) and she still gets a nap. My cousin has all her children, including the seven year old lay down for a set amount of time. The older one doesn't have to sleep, but he does have to be quiet and stay in his room. She said it's mommy time.
The room is beautiful! The colors really came out great. I love the dark border on the top with the pictures. You did a fantastic job. I need to paint my whole house but I think I am taking the easy way out and hiring a colorist!
I know they each of the boys have their own cribs but maybe they can take turns rotating around (not the beds – just the kids). Brooks and Clark in one room for a week and Isaac and Henry in the other – then Henry and Clark together and Brooks and Isaac. Just a thought to give them special time with their brothers and then it is not always these 2 together and those 2 together.
Krista
I often take a group of kids camping, and have always found that they really do need to be separated at bedtimes. Even if there's only six kids, we take two tents, and put them three & three, instead of one large tent that all six can fit into!!
I absolutely adore the idea of the story book covers, the room looks amazing!!
And I was a big Brady Bunch fan when I was little. I went through a stage of wanting to be called "marcia". I can't believe I just admitted that!
I'm glad you got things working better – yeah!
On a different note – speaking of the brady's, one of the hosts for anji's mrs america pageant was Florence Henderson! anji said she was very small/short and very nice 🙂
see you saturday?
Your on for any Brady Bunch challenge! I own and have seen every episode! We absolutly love it
I think I said this before, but I LOVE the framed book prints! I love children's books (always have…worked at a library when I was a teen, am a teacher now…and of course, have lots of books for my own kids too…). The twins' room was done with a Very Hungry Caterpillar theme (which I knew long before I even had a baby that's what I would do!) and then Adam's room was done in The Rainbow Fish.
Love how you put them in the top section! nice touch!
I am glad the boys are doing better split up. Right now Jacob and Sarah are still in the same room and will be for a while – until its not working for them anymore or until it makes more sense to put the boys together. Thankfully everyone is content with their situation so hopefully it'll stay that way for a while!
Good move to separate them to work through naps. My daughter is 3.5 and still takes a 2 hour nap 4-5 days a week. Even if she is not napping I try to have a 1-2 hour quiet time. I can't imagine that working with 4 kids in a room but maybe with only 2 in a room.
My son is 3 and he still needs a nap. If he doesn't get one it is endless whining and not listening.
way to not give up the naps! You probably need them to nap as much as they need it! I am glad that splitting them two by two helps with that. My two had to sleep in two different rooms during daytime naps until they gave up napping (at 5 yrs old) because they kept each other awake, not an issue at night! I have noticed that Mandy Cooper does the same thing with her twins!
Oh, and I probably know a pretty good ammt about The Brady Bunch myself!
very cool room, Murrays! that's a great idea to put the pictures up high like that in a painted border. it's going to look like it was torn from the pages of pottery barn kids when you are done!
that's so hard to have to split the boys up but good for you for braving the heartache and doing it! the nap time is precious and definitely needs to stick around for everyone's sanity. hope your whole fam is now feeling more rested! love, mari
Are you going to paint the other room since you are not moving the other 2 boys? Love the room
The room looks awesome…love the colors!!
Our triplets are the same age as your boys and they went through a very similar stage. We, also, were definitely not ready to go without naps (and sleeping at night, it turned out). We have taken to sitting on the floor in their room in the beginning of naps/bedtime. At first, we had to stay put until they fell asleep. Now I am able to just lay them down for naps and go next door and wait for them to get very drowsy before going back downstairs. At bedtime, we give them baths and then my husband reads them books in their room and stays in their until they are almost asleep. It's working…they don't talk to each other as much and they are getting back to their "normal" sleep routine, thankfully!!
They run in to wake up their baby sister, though, in the morning, and it's adorable…I love watching it! Thankfully, they leave their biggest brother alone (or he gets grumpy) and their other brother is always awake when they get up!