Transforming the Space... Again
[Note: I wrote this the week before we moved both kids into the same room. While I'm no longer moving the bassinet around, the thoughts and feelings shared below are still relevant]
The transition to two kids has been very challenging for us as I am sure it is for many people. That is not to say we aren't incredibly grateful and so blessed for a family of four but anything this wonderful doesn't come without some hard work. In the past six months of little sleep and toddler meltdowns I have been hyper-aware of all aspects of our lives and if they are helping or hindering our family.
One of these focuses is our small space. I have found the daily physical transformation of our home, to be the most challenging part of living small with two kids. By this I mean the physical moving of furniture and toys required to create the different uses of our space. When the living room is also our bedroom and the playroom, and we don't have an extra room to hide anything that is in the way, some fancy rearranging is required. I'll walk you through my morning:
Trevor leaves early for work so he can get home and spend time with the family before bedtimes. So in the mornings I wake, tend to baby and toddler while making and putting the bed away. Folding away the murphy bed transforms our bedroom back into our living room, leaving room for Theo to play. I then carry the bassinet into the bedroom. Next, I pull the baby chair out of the bedroom and set it up where Mae can see me and her brother. (I love the Nuna but wonder if the Baby Bjorn might have been a better choice for us as it is much lighter and smaller). At the end of the day we repeat these steps in the reverse order, obviously it is much easier with Trevor's help.
I am very pleased with the fact that we have few large items for our baby and toddler and the ones we do have are multipurpose, quality and design conscious. But some days when I am wearing a fussy baby and my toddler is hell bent on revenge, these physical acts can seem insurmountable. My logical brain knows that these days will pass and I won't need the baby chair or bassinet anymore and there will be new challenges in our space. But as I live through these long, messy days I wanted to share with you these challenges. Maybe you have similar ones in your small space? Or maybe in a larger space these are not things you experience.
A few coins have definitely gone into the "this space is not working" jar due to the physical transformation of our space required on a daily basis. But at 6 months in with 2 kids we are still committed to living in our small space, having less things and focusing on experiences.