Bunk!

The morning after.

A few months ago it became apparent that, even though they are almost midgets, our children would soon outgrow their toddler beds. So we took a ride out to our favorite kid bed store in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey to see what they had for us.

When we got there the kids did their best Goldilocks impression by trying out every bed in the place. Unlike Goldilocks, they liked every bed they tried.

We eventually settled upon a princess-like bunk bed set. After hearing the price we realized that we would be ready to buy it for them just as they headed off to college. But a surprise tax refund sent me back to the store to make the deal.

Delivery was set for Thursday, and the girls were very excited. They huddled in negotiations and decided that Stella would be on the top and Marni would be below in the "princess castle". The night before delivery I was awoken by Stella who requested that I come and sleep in their room so that she could enjoy her last night in her little bed (rather than her sleep upstairs with us). This, of course, meant that I had to sleep on the floor. But, being a good daddy, that's what I did.

Yesterday we cleaned out their entire room to make way for the new monstrosity. Lisa kept me updated on the installation process with photos, phone calls, and videos. After installation she worked hard to get the room put back together for them.

We decided to make a video recording of their first impressions. Lisa had her camera rolling as they entered the room and the footage speaks for itself.



They spent the rest of the day playing on the bunk beds and excitedly dragged me in there when I got home. They even had neighbors drop by to show them.

As bedtime approached, we had to come up with a new routine. No longer was there a rocking chair in the room (no room for it), and no longer could I lie on the floor between their two beds and hold their hands as they drifted off to sleep.

It was decided that I would hang out "upstairs" with Stella first since she was a little nervous about sleeping up so high. I rested at the end of her bed until she drifted off to sleep. Then I moved down to Marni who was patiently waiting in her "princess castle". After about 10 minutes, she was asleep too.

The foot.

I checked on them throughout the night. Stella never fell off. Occasionally a foot would poke out from the "princess castle" curtain.

Stella came up in the middle of the night to sleep with us, as usual. So she obviously didn't plummet to the ground after forgetting she was in an upper bunk. Marni woke up happy and crazy as usual. So, all is good.

The girls have cooked up a plan to switch beds every 22 days (don't ask). We'll see if that ever happens. But right now it appears that we have two very happy bunk mates.


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