Two Boys in a Room

Way back in April we finally bit the bullet and put both boys in the same room (#1 and #2, #3 wasn't here yet!).  This decision was not made lightly.  We had thought about it for awhile, but then as luck would have it we were sort of thrust into it by two separate events.  The first was our domestic water pipes going out the day after Thanksgiving.  To accommodate all the exposed holes in our walls we moved #1 up into our bedroom (oh yeah, I must write about this) and #2 into #1's room.  #2's room became what I affectionately called our hoarders room because all things in our house went their to collect dust, disappear, then die a lonely death.  The sleeping arrangements stayed as such all the way until April.  I had politely, gently, subtly, and then not so subtly pointed out that I was 37 weeks pregnant and that soon we would have a third child (second event), who would be sleeping in our room and that it was time to get things moving to get #1 out of our room.  I didn't want #1 to feel as if the baby was replacing him and the cause for him being moved out, and we were quickly loosing time!  Husband quickly patched up the one room.  I made a cute calendar to countdown to this momentous occasion.  As it turned out, it was more for me then them.  Husband and I both dreaded them sharing a room.  We imagined endless nights of them laughing, playing, hitting, kicking, yelling, etc, etc, and that they would never get enough sleep and be grumpy and miserable, therefore making us miserable.  Thankfully, this couldn't have been farther from the truth and was in fact an easy transition.  The first night they laughed and played for an hour; the second, 30 minutes.  After that smooth sailing. 

Now fast forward five months to the present.  It's still going well.  However #2 decided it was a good idea to start screaming, crying, and jumping in his crib when it was time for lights out.  This prompted #1 to scream, cry, and pitch a fit at #2 to stop, "#2 be quiet, go to sleep."  They would do this for five minutes then silence.  It SUCKED.  It was loud and it bothered me to no end.  I felt bad that #1 was bothered by #2's racket.  I also felt bad for #2 because getting yelled at when you're sad sucks.  Finally I started to tell #1 that instead of yelling to calmly tell #2 that it'll be okay and to go to sleep.  Now I just simply remind him of this every night, and voila, no more yelling, and no more crying on #2's part, I'm SOOOO smart!  Now when I close the door I hear kindness, "#2 it's alright, mom will be back in the morning, go to sleep.  It's okay, go to sleep." Thank goodness!