Sleeping arrangements

We have a 4 bedroom house. Mimi and I get one, and the other three go for the kids. For the longest time Denis and Tara have shared a room. The reason behind this is they're the best sleepers. They both go to bed easily, and they both sleep long and deep. So matching them seemed a smart idea. That left Liam with his own room (the smallest one) and Seamus with his own (the largest one, previously the nursery).

Denis finally started making noise about having his own room about a year ago. I didn't pay any attention - they always need something to complain about! But after he mentioned it a few times I figured it was time. He is the oldest, and he's shared a room for 6 years. And Tara's the only girl, so presumably at some point she's going to need her own space.

So I made the case to Mimi that Liam and Seamus should bunk together (Liam actually has a bunk bed in his room!) and Denis and Tara should get their own places. Resistant to change as always she initially said no, but eventually she saw the light and agreed.

Step one was testing out the new arrangement. I mean, could Liam and Seamus, our two, um, 'active' kids co-exist in the same room? That was far from guaranteed! So we moved Seamus into Liam's room to give it a shot.

We were pleasantly surprised when it seemed to work pretty well. Liam really does love being an older brother, and Seamus is a pretty social boy. So putting them in together far exceeded our expectations.

The next step was moving Tara into her own space. We were still a bit tentative, just testing it out. So instead of making the big move (putting bunk bed and furniture into the large room) I just moved Tara to the old nursery. She seemed happy about it, and took to the new room right away.

Tara goes to bed earliest, and she was immediately asleep in her new room. An hour later it was time for Denis to go to bed. So he went back to his old room and laid down to sleep. Only he didn't sleep. About 30 minutes later a sheepish-looking Denis appeared in front of me.

"I'm lonely" he said. This was new. He's never voiced that concept before. "Do you want me to stay with you for a bit?" I asked. "No." I was initially confused, but then it came to me. "Do you want me to move Tara back into your room?" "Yes."

I just about cried.

I mean, the kid never ones says a word about Tara. Nothing good or bad. Most times it's like she's not even there. But I guess there is some love there.

So I went into her new room, picked her up (yikes she's getting heavy!) and brought her into her bed in their old room. And they slept like they always do.

The next night again Tara went to sleep in the nursery, and again Denis asked for her to be moved. Finally on the third night I just put her back in the old room (I was getting tired of hauling her around!) And that's where they've stayed since.

It's been about 5 months since the initial move and return. And finally just yesterday Denis asked about having his own room.

You'll excuse me if I don't rearrange the furniture just yet.