We've Up-Graded to a Five Bedroom

The space above our stairs has been bugging me for years. It's a decent size platform about three-feet off the ground. One side drops off over the stairwell. Two sides are enclosed by walls. And, the fourth side drops down three feet into the "room" next to the stairwell. Should I call it a room? I guess it's a space, too large to not be a room, but too small to really be a room. For awhile, it housed a desk with the kids' computer (with the platform above the stairs behind the computer), then, we moved the computer downstairs. The platform itself has never served a useful purpose since we've lived in this home.

I've often expressed a desire to turn it into some sort of cool reading nook. Maybe even paint it all fancy and put in a slide. Photoguy has always countered with his plans to turn it into a nifty storage space with a ladder that unfolds from the ceiling and all kinds of bells and whistles. To which I've always said, "I'm sorry, but the last thing I need is more storage space. No, what I need is more organization and less stuff, but not more space to store even more stuff."

And, so, never reaching a consensus, we've done nothing.

Finally, after years of seeing this space go un-used, well, un-used except as a place to collect stacks of stuff that is (I did admit that I need more organization), I decided to do something about it. I had a vision to build the kids a playhouse of sorts above the stairs by enclosing the side that drops off dangerously over the stairwell. On Memorial day, I told Photoguy my plans and that he could help me, but, he could not stop me. To my delight, we loaded up our three kids, plus my adorable niece Anna who is two, and headed to the Home Depot. Photoguy gathered supplies and pushed the kids around on a big cart while they practiced bar routines for their future careers as Olympic gymnasts. Then, we came home and he took over the whole project. He devoted his entire holiday to building the kids a much cooler clubhouse than I ever could have managed. They dubbed the raised plywood enclosure their, "cave," and spent hours playing in it.

It's been a great attraction for friends who come to play. The girls I babysit have about the coolest backyard ever -- complete with a giant playground (swings, climbing wall, slide), teeter totter, sandbox, trampoline, fishpond, lovely gardens and -- get this -- a zip line taller than their house. The first time they saw our cave they demanded of their dad, "Why don't you ever build something cool like that for us!?" Kids.

AiAi has been sleeping peacefully in there for the past two nights. So, I guess our house has officially been up-graded to a "five-bedroom" if you count also the office where I now sit and type.

It's weird because AiAi insists that I go away and leave him alone when he is sleeping in the cave. This is in direct contrast to my kids always requiring me to "lie with them" at bedtime. When Soph and E-Man were little, I refused to do it. As an "expert" parent, I knew that they needed to learn to self-sooth and fall asleep on their own. I wasn't about to be manipulated out of "my time" each night by giving in to their demands. Then, one day, I decided to lie with them. I decided to do it every single night. I realized that E-Man doesn't really ask a lot of me, but the one thing he must have is a nice snuggle at the end of the day. I began to see how much it meant to Soph too. Sure, it eats up an entire hour by the time I've been to everyone's bed. And, yes, I'm far too groggy to be productive after all that horizontal time in dark rooms at the end of the day. But, I realized that if I lie with them every single night, then, maybe, just maybe those nighttime chats will carry over into the teen years. Even now it's become one of the most cherished parts of my day.

And, I love our new cave.