I cannot sleep because my kids are sleeping in new beds. All three.
We went from bunks plus toddler bed, snug and stuck together in Eli’s room, to no toddler bed, one full size bed for the 10-year-boy now all alone in his own room, and the bunked set in Oakley’s space. We moved Oakley into his room here in a tiny crib as a 7 month old, and tonight he just went to sleep on a bottom bunk with no rail and no extra loving needed?!
And Sister Soo, sweet Andi. The little lady likes a permanent slumber party. Her first stop out of a crib was the bottom bunk, under Eli. Andi was four when we snuggled Oakley in his crib in our old house next to them. She slept happy between brothers. When we moved, she got an awesome room and a big, old bed for her small self. In 2013, our first year here, Andi slept in her bed for a few nights. We walked between three rooms saying blessings and giving one last drink. After a month of sleeping alone in her own room, she went back to what she’s always and only known: being bunked with a brother.
After two years of dressing and playing in her room and sleeping in Eli’s, we invited another family to live with us for three months. Eli welcomed Oaks and the toddler bed into his room when June moved in to sleep in Oakley’s room.
James, Laura and June moved in this summer while they looked for, found, and renovated a house they now sleep, shower, and eat in just three, literally three, doors down from my bunked beds here. Life was crowded with loud early mornings and restless dinners, mosquito bites, grilled salmon, shared kid care, late night shows or games, help, fun, and bliss more than burden.
When it was time for the Bruce’s to pack up and walk to their new house, we walked around the topic of where Andi would sleep. Eli was vocal about wanting his own room to be his own room. I loved hearing what he wanted and why and had a lot of fun getting it ready for him today. He is 10 and free of climbing into a lofted bed. May you never worry about your head and that circulating fan blade again, buddy. 
Andi had options. She was welcome to bunk up brother-wise once again, it would just be with Oakley and she’d need to move up; the top bunk was open now. Or, she could sleep all cozy and all alone in that room she really does like so much in a bed we fixed up fancy with a clip-on light today.
She chose brother bunk bed and I’m fine with it, happy really. I had quite a day thinking of moving them and then going through all the work of setting up beds, cleaning up rooms, and finding more pillows. Emotion, plus work across three flights of stairs, is a big day.
There is something about having them together that makes me swoon. The mess of the first night this summer where no one would go to sleep and everyone cried or yelled or got up and out of their beds in that triple sibling room, makes me think they can adjust to anything and get good at it. Eli, Andi, and Oakley are my favorites and having them all in one place led to special nights all summer.
If we’re lucky, we’ll have Castaway as a chance to smoosh them all back together next summer.
For now, I’ll just go look at them one more time, in two different places, and try to get to sleep myself.
