Monkey in the middle
I'm the middle child.
Which means, among other things, I love to be around people.
Whereas my older and younger sisters both need "alone time," I am game to be with people at every hour of every day, including all night long.
When I was little I loved sharing a bedroom with my older sister.
We would hang out together, jump on our beds, have sleep overs in each other's beds, and do neighborhood watch from our bedroom window (our neighbors had a mysterious red light in their basement which we were sure indicated some sort of illegal activity).
Then, one day my little sister came along, and my older sister got her own bedroom and in moved my little sister (I swapped one for the other).
A few months later, my older sister "developed claustrophobia" and I was no longer allowed in her bedroom; no more jumping on her (now full sized) bed and definitely no late night hang outs or sleep overs. I distinctly remember her telling me that her room was simply too small for more than one person in it at a time (it's worth noting that her room was slightly bigger than the room that we used to share).
I'm not sure that's how claustrophobia works, but I digress.
Either way, I retreated to my bedroom, which I now shared with my little sister.
Since she was too little to take a post as neighborhood watch, we had to come up with something else fun to do. I had the genius idea to push our two twin beds together to make one huge bed. It was like a slumber party every night.
Awesome.
It was all fun and games until I realized she was a clingy sleeper. Halfway through the night, she would traverse the expanse of her bed, cross the crack in the mattresses and wrap her whole body around mine.
It was like I was giving off some extremely strong magnetic pull.
No matter what I did, I couldn't shake her.
That was the end of the "big bed" and the end of me sharing my bed.
I still loved sharing a room, heck, when I got to college, the sleeping porch in my sorority was where many great memories were made. Eight girls in bunk beds = a slumber party every night.
It was the best of both worlds, sharing a room but not sharing a bed.
I enjoyed being able to stretch out in my own bed every night for many years, that was, until I got married.
Then I remembered how much sharing a bed sucks.
Chris, being a very active sleeper, would steal my pillows, throw them on the floor, and wrap himself up in all the blankets.
I would find myself cold, clinging to the sheets for warmth in the middle of the night while Chris was comfy with all the blankets and pillows.
Welcome to marriage.
We finally worked out a compromise; separate blankets and I keep one eye open while I sleep.
I'm not kidding. I hold onto my pillow and blanket for dear life while I sleep and I hover in a half-asleep state in case Chris decides to sleep walk.
Fast forward four years, and Ketchum joined our family, and consequently, our bed.
I was very against dogs on furniture of any kind, including beds.
My very pregnant self, caved and for a while, and enjoyed the puppy cuddled up with us each night.
Then, our snugly little pup begin to grow and take over the bed.
Chris and I would wake to Ketchum spread eagle in the middle of the bed, and both of us would be pushed to the corners of the bed.
So, we tried to train him to only sleep at our feet.
That kind of worked.
He would start at our feet, but through the night he would move around and stretch out. We would wake up to his puppy breath on our faces and his legs on top of us.
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It was a problem, but we didn't have time to dwell on it because we had just introduced another family member to the mix.
After a week in his bassinet, Hunter joined us in bed.
Oh gosh what fun that was. Chris, I, Hunter and Ketchum all together sleeping in a queen bed.
I was not happy.
It was like the days with my little sister, but WAY WORSE.
We now had puppy breath, baby snores and no space for us.
We knew we had to change something.
Actually everything.
So we went for the path of least resistance first, and got Hunter into his own bed and into his own room at 6 weeks.
Even though we only got one of them out of the bed, it felt exponentially better.
So we got lazy and let the pup stay.
Then, we finally decided that come 2013, Ketchum was going to get his own bed and get out of ours.
Luckily for us, Chris' mom did the hard work for us.
Ketchum went for a vacation at Grandma and Papa's house over the New Year and he slept in his own bed.
Then, when he came home, he decided that he liked sleeping in his own bed, so it was a pretty easy transition.
So here we are, back to only two in our bed.
It feels like we got a king sized bed.
Its amazing.
In the mornings, after Hunter wakes up to eat, I generally let him fall back asleep in our bed, that's when I sneak in my baby snuggles.
He's the little monkey in the middle, and I don't mind sharing.
Which means, among other things, I love to be around people.
Whereas my older and younger sisters both need "alone time," I am game to be with people at every hour of every day, including all night long.
When I was little I loved sharing a bedroom with my older sister.
We would hang out together, jump on our beds, have sleep overs in each other's beds, and do neighborhood watch from our bedroom window (our neighbors had a mysterious red light in their basement which we were sure indicated some sort of illegal activity).
Then, one day my little sister came along, and my older sister got her own bedroom and in moved my little sister (I swapped one for the other).
A few months later, my older sister "developed claustrophobia" and I was no longer allowed in her bedroom; no more jumping on her (now full sized) bed and definitely no late night hang outs or sleep overs. I distinctly remember her telling me that her room was simply too small for more than one person in it at a time (it's worth noting that her room was slightly bigger than the room that we used to share).
I'm not sure that's how claustrophobia works, but I digress.
Either way, I retreated to my bedroom, which I now shared with my little sister.
Since she was too little to take a post as neighborhood watch, we had to come up with something else fun to do. I had the genius idea to push our two twin beds together to make one huge bed. It was like a slumber party every night.
Awesome.
It was all fun and games until I realized she was a clingy sleeper. Halfway through the night, she would traverse the expanse of her bed, cross the crack in the mattresses and wrap her whole body around mine.
It was like I was giving off some extremely strong magnetic pull.
No matter what I did, I couldn't shake her.
That was the end of the "big bed" and the end of me sharing my bed.
I still loved sharing a room, heck, when I got to college, the sleeping porch in my sorority was where many great memories were made. Eight girls in bunk beds = a slumber party every night.
It was the best of both worlds, sharing a room but not sharing a bed.
I enjoyed being able to stretch out in my own bed every night for many years, that was, until I got married.
Then I remembered how much sharing a bed sucks.
Chris, being a very active sleeper, would steal my pillows, throw them on the floor, and wrap himself up in all the blankets.
I would find myself cold, clinging to the sheets for warmth in the middle of the night while Chris was comfy with all the blankets and pillows.
Welcome to marriage.
We finally worked out a compromise; separate blankets and I keep one eye open while I sleep.
I'm not kidding. I hold onto my pillow and blanket for dear life while I sleep and I hover in a half-asleep state in case Chris decides to sleep walk.
Fast forward four years, and Ketchum joined our family, and consequently, our bed.
I was very against dogs on furniture of any kind, including beds.
Chris, on the other hand, wanted our snugly puppy to be able to sleep with us.
My very pregnant self, caved and for a while, and enjoyed the puppy cuddled up with us each night.
So, we tried to train him to only sleep at our feet.
That kind of worked.
He would start at our feet, but through the night he would move around and stretch out. We would wake up to his puppy breath on our faces and his legs on top of us.
.jpg)
It was a problem, but we didn't have time to dwell on it because we had just introduced another family member to the mix.
After a week in his bassinet, Hunter joined us in bed.
Oh gosh what fun that was. Chris, I, Hunter and Ketchum all together sleeping in a queen bed.
I was not happy.
It was like the days with my little sister, but WAY WORSE.
We now had puppy breath, baby snores and no space for us.
We knew we had to change something.
Actually everything.
So we went for the path of least resistance first, and got Hunter into his own bed and into his own room at 6 weeks.
Even though we only got one of them out of the bed, it felt exponentially better.
So we got lazy and let the pup stay.
Then, we finally decided that come 2013, Ketchum was going to get his own bed and get out of ours.
Luckily for us, Chris' mom did the hard work for us.
Ketchum went for a vacation at Grandma and Papa's house over the New Year and he slept in his own bed.
Then, when he came home, he decided that he liked sleeping in his own bed, so it was a pretty easy transition.
So here we are, back to only two in our bed.
It feels like we got a king sized bed.
Its amazing.
In the mornings, after Hunter wakes up to eat, I generally let him fall back asleep in our bed, that's when I sneak in my baby snuggles.
He's the little monkey in the middle, and I don't mind sharing.
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