Thursday, March 03, 2011

no! sleep! 'til bunkbeds!

Given the sobering realities of home ownership (the grown-up realization that Things need to be done for the house and Things unfortunately cost money--like, so much money) we have a bit of a limit on what we're allowing ourselves to buy in terms of furniture for the new house.  A rug is furniture, right?  No?  It is the way we use it!  (That sounded kind of dirty, but really what I meant is that we sit on the floor a lot.)  But one thing I did promise Cal for when we moved in, and one thing that we're going to follow through on, is that we're going to get him a bunk bed for his new room.

First off, credit where credit is due, I got this idea from Amalah (hi Amy!), who recently talked about finding a bunk bed for her two boys off of Craig's List.  I could not find an equivalent deal because Craig's List in Atlanta sucks.  No, not really--we even found our nanny off Craig's List when we first moved here and nothing is better than that--but I'm just a sad, bitter old woman who does not like to pay full price for things.  

Anyway, after reading about how Amy got her kids bunk beds, I realized that Cal would totally go for the excitement of the upper berth, because, you know, he is a human boy.  Also, our new house only (not to say "only," there's plenty of room, an embarrassment of riches compared to a Manhattan apartment) has three bedrooms, which means that we don't have a dedicated guest bedroom.  And that is actually fine, no one ever visits us anyway because we are so hateful--but we did need an option for decamping one kid or another to a different room if we ever (glory!) did have people want to stay over.  Adult people who don't want to sleep on a cheap couch.  So.  BUNK BEDS.




(This is a picture from the website--we're not that patriotic, especially when it comes to bedding.)  

We needed to get the twin-over-full option because Mack is quite an energetic sleeper (I had to search around for that euphemism) and I am certain that him sleeping on a twin would be the equivalent of him sleeping on the floor 50% of the time.  I know, there are railings for such things, but you underestimate his nocturnal gymnastics.  If we put on hard bed railings, he would be Captain Subdural Hematoma.  With his sidekick, Neuro Check Girl!  (That's me.)  Also, I wanted to find the kind of bunk bed that had stairs instead of a ladder, because I had some kind of vision that this would be safer.  Not really safer?  I don't know, I'm new at this.  Anyway, the plan will be that the kids will have their own rooms, but when guests come over, Mack will sleep in Cal's room on the bottom bunk, while Cal sleeps on the top as usual.

We were going to hold off on the bunk bedding for a few months yet, because of, you know, the monies.  But then my parents very kindly offered to get us the bed as a housewarming gift, and I was like oh you don't have to do that that's too much OK OK BUNK BEDS HUZZAH!  

I slept in a bunk bed myself as a kid--my sister and I shared a room--and I remember it being a lot of fun.  So here's to new adventures, and to hoping that my kids and the concept of critical velocity remain mutually exclusive.

14 comments:

  1. Anonymous5:09 PM

    My kids would have immediately adapted this to a trampoline situation. No worries--kids will find a way to turn most anything into a trampoline. Very nice--I like the step idea. It will work well in the teen years if you have to drag anyone's sleepy arse out of bed to go to school or do chores. It will also make the bed easier to change sheets(which is a pain in bunk beds)
    Michelle in Iowa

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  2. christine5:46 PM

    I don't know what it is about bunk beds -- I always wanted one as a kid (specifically, I wanted the top bunk) but my parents evidently envisioned many a broken bone and gave us the poor-man's version of a bunk, the trundle bed. Not cool at all.

    (I eventually got the top bunk in college and it was everything I wanted it to be, minus the awkward roommate situation.)

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  3. Captain Subdural Hematoma.
    Neuro Check Girl.

    You kill me!

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  4. The Captain Subdural Hematoma and Neuro Check Girl are the reasons I keep reading this blog. You are the roaring laughter in my evening.

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  5. Carin8:35 PM

    my nephews (8 and 5) have a similar setup (twin over full with the older kid in the top bunk). They actually each have separate rooms too. Even though the plan was the same as yours (younger kid gets booted to the bottom bunk when guests come), the younger kid ALWAYS sleep in the bottom bunk. To them, it's punishment to separate them.

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  6. Adrienne8:48 PM

    Reassuring signs that Adulthood is Not Actually the Wasteland I Always Feared: We can still reference the Beastie Boys, even in talking about parenting

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  7. Does neuro check girl wear a cape? A mask? I bet she has Xray vision..

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  8. OMG I love those bunk beds. They are amazing. I WANT.

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  9. My kids have bunkbeds and they love them :) though they both sleep on the bottom bunk hah

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  10. Anonymous8:13 AM

    My guys (16 months apart) slept together in a full when they were little. When they got bunk beds, they still always ended up snuggling together in the top bunk. The dog really enjoys having the bottom bunk to herself.
    -Maddie

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  11. Anonymous8:28 AM

    Do they even make full bunk beds?

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  12. Anonymous9:10 AM

    Yes. We have full bunk beds. They're great. My daughters, of course, slept together in the bottom bunk for the first 2 years. The beds can be "debunked". If they don't marry large men, we plan to give each daughter a bed as a wedding gift. (The beds are that big!)

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  13. Anonymous9:12 AM

    Michelle,
    The only non-IKEA or IKEA-like furniture we own our our bunk beds. Welcome to the club.

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  14. Anonymous10:18 PM

    You'd be amazed at all the different types of bunkbeds they have---twin size, full size, and loft...Each one works well in certain situations. For smaller children, I always recommend getting getting beds with steps instead of a ladder.

    http://bedroomfurnituresales.net/ - 888-461-5231

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