POLL: Did you share a room with a sibling?
When you were growing up, did you share a room with a sibling at any point? Did you love it? Were there wars over closet space and the light switch?
VOTE and tell us about it in the comments!
Comentarios (103)
chloebud
hace 7 añosYes...with my sister until we were about 10 and 12. After that my parents bought a larger house and we had our own rooms. However, we would often still sleep in one or the other's room together. She has always been my very best friend.
randomcindy
hace 7 añosI was an only child so I always had my own room until college. My three children span 9 years (boy, girl, boy), and have shared a room or two in all possible combinations as they have grown. Most recently they chose to put all their beds in one room so they could have the other room as a playroom. Many of their friends have their own rooms. Our previous house was bigger but I prefer the closeness of our mid-century ranch. I do sometimes wish the rooms were just a bit bigger or that we had one extra room. Introverts need a private place to retreat to sometimes.
Ebba Brakenhielm
hace 7 añosWe live in a house with 6 bedrooms, but our two boys, aged 9 and 6, have always shared a room. Thinking the older one may want some privacy now, we recently redecorated a room for him. He refused to sleep there without his brother though as it would get too lonely. So, now both have moved to the new bedroom and we are redecorating the first one for the younger brother. No telling if they will ever want to sleep apart though....sharing is a great and cozy thing to do, but perhaps an easier thing to choose to do when its not a must....felizlady
hace 7 añosYoung family after WW2, three girls in one bedroom in 2-bedroom house....for six years!! Then the boy was born. He was in parents' room, then in breakfast room. Three girls still in one bedroom for another 3 years! Moved to 3-bedroom house: 2 older girls in one room, young sister and brother in second room, parents in third room. The older girls went off to college 1963 and 1964, but lived at home and shared room. Then the eldest (me) got married and moved to apartment. I never had my own room, ever! Married 51 years so far. Our two shared one room for a couple of years. Then they had their own rooms.
Resistance
hace 7 añosfirst I shared with my older brother, then I shared with a younger brother and then finally when my sister came along I shared with her. in fact there's only been a few years when I haven't shared a room when I was at varsity and sharing homes with friends in my first jobs etc. then I met my husband and been sharing ever since
Kate Murphy
hace 7 añosI shared a room with my twin sisters. They had the bunk beds and I had a cot. My three bother also shared a room. Plus we only had one bathroom for six kids mum,dad and my mum's sister and brother. Very tight quarters!
marcat
hace 7 añosI shared a room with my sister. Once she got mad at me and roped off her side of the room. Unfortunately for her the door was on my side.
Anita Dempsey
hace 7 añosÚltima modificación: hace 7 añosI first shared a room with my older sister and younger brother. I actually don't remember us having any conflicts; too young by then, I guess. Later, we moved into an apartment with three bedrooms, and so my sister and I shared one room and my brother had his own. To my parents' surprise, when the set up was announced, my brother, disappointed, said: why do I have to be the one to sleep by myself?? Haha
And actually, it happened that many nights he would drag his mattress off his bed and into our room to spend the night there; and we could all hang out (and chat when it was time to be asleep!).
I hope to have kids one day and would love for them to share a bedroom, at least for a while.
motherhuber
hace 7 añosI shared a room in a 3 bedroom house with my younger sister (18 months between us) until I was 17 and our older brother got married and moved out. It was not pleasant at times as I was a neat freak and she wasn't. She didn't like to clean, and so in order to keep our room the way I liked it, the cleaning fell to me when my mother deemed I was old enough to do so. We only had one bathroom in the house, but it worked for the most part as everyone in the house was on a slightly different work/school schedule. I moved out when I was 18 to attend nursing school, and shared a room in the nurses residence for my first year. Senior students got their own room. The bathroom was communal, shared with 19 other girls all on the same schedule, so that was a challenge. You learned not to waste time there as someone else was always waiting their turn. When I had my own kids, 2 girls and then a boy, they all had their own rooms. Sometimes I would find them all in one bed at night, as the oldest would read to the younger ones on occasion and they would fall asleep.
Patti St. John Martin
hace 7 añosFour girls in two rooms. And my two older sisters had to walk through my and my younger sister's room to get to theirs. Most of my friends lived the same way so, good or bad, it was just the way things were. I'm 63 now and still cherish privacy and alone time. My husband is the same way.
Gabriel Roberts
hace 7 añosI also am an identical twin and we shared a room until high school. When we both hosted exchange students for a few months, he left and the family converted the tv room into a bedroom for him. We never fought during our time together! We did have a lot of fun.mia506
hace 7 añosI never had my own room until I graduated from college and had my first job. I eventually moved into a small duplex and lived by myself for a few years until I got married. I LOVED living by myself........until the hubby came along. We had two children, a boy then a girl in a 3 bedroom house. They never had to share a room until our son went to a residential high school for gifted students and lived in a dorm then to college and then our daughter went to college. After college, our son always lived by himself. No roommates but lots of his friends dropped by on a regular basis.
creatureofchaos
hace 7 añosYes, until I was 8.
We really liked sharing a room, and would sneak into each other's rooms most nights until we were in high school.camilla101
hace 7 añosWe shared a room until I was 12; my sister is 3 years younger. Then we had our own rooms after my grandmother passed. We would have liked to have had her with us much longer.
pplante
hace 7 añosGrowing up I shared a bed with my sister. It was the pull out couch in the living room. We were a family of 7 in a two bedroom, 1 bath apartment in Brooklyn. I thought we had it good, my friend's apartment had a very small toilet closet with the sink and tub in the kitchen. It was right next to the kitchen table! Absolutely no privacy.
Mary Lynn
hace 7 añosMy younger sister Sandie and I shared a room. When she was about 11 she started decorating her side of the room with flair. She is currently a professional photographer but is also a fantastic designer/decorator/ draftsman. I love her style!
mhteb
hace 7 añosRecently a childhood friend and I were back in our hometown and drove past her old home. It was probably 800 sq.ft. with two bedrooms and one bath. There were 2 adults and 5 children in that family. Since retirement she and her husband have "downsized" to a 2700 sq.ft. home. What a difference 70+ years make in our expectations!
PROJanet H. Designs
hace 7 añosI shared a bedroom with my younger sister when we were kids. Parents gave us paint and carpet choices of Pink, PINKER, or PINKEST. Even as a 6 year old I was revolted by the selection and have a strong aversion to pink to this day. Thankfully, I moved into my brothers small bedroom when my parents fixed up the downstairs space for my brother. I don't recall the color of my "new" bedroom but at least it wasn't pink. Remember hauling my white painted chest of drawers downstairs and my parents allowing me to stain it dark walnut. Cautionary tale to parents: Let your kids partake in the decorating decisions.
glendadw
hace 7 añosMy sister and I always shared a room until she left home. Our decorating styles are much different! We did not get along. Had the room to myself for a couple of years until I went to college and lived in a dorm that had a large central bathroom. You certainly learn to get along there! Then got married and shared a room with my husband.M Hackett
hace 7 añosShared shared a room with my sister for six months a year after my grandmother died. Grandpa spent six months with us and the other with his son. Before he came to live with us, my sister got to decorate her room, my parents were very open-minded, so for his stay with us, grandpa got to sleep in a room with a black wall!
pams39
hace 7 añosI shared a room with my sister and also a double bed. We put rulers down the centre of the bed to ensure she didn't get any more of the bed than I, and if anyone encroached over the rulers, punishment was swift and powerful.
Etoncev
hace 7 añosI shared a room with my younger brother and sister for years, until we all get married and left parental home. Those were great years!
- PRO
fjl618
hace 7 añosÚltima modificación: hace 7 añosReading these posts makes me feel better. When I was young, I felt sorry for myself that I had to share a room with my younger brother. I wish I had known then that I was not the only one in this situation.
jeanniec13
hace 7 añosI shared a room with my mom and two brothers. The boys were older than I and tormented me that there was a gorilla in the room or a man in the corner with a gun. There was one closet that was a walk in. Don't remember light switches in the 1950s just lamps on the dresser.
jmast101
hace 7 añosStrangely enough, my twin sister and I shared our room until we left for college. Even when our older siblings left home, we didn't split up into two separate rooms. Now that I think of it, it didn't even occur to us! Huh! We must have loved the conflicts...haha!lavenderanhinga
hace 7 añosLike tvanbens, I shared a bed with my sister until I was 14. It was horrible. We didn't fight about the closet or toys or clothes. But at the end of the day, we wrestled through the night, fighting to keep each other "on her side of the bed!" My brothers shared a room with twin beds, which felt tremendously unfair to me. It was absolute luxury to have my own bed for the last three years of high school, when my sister and I finally became close.
200yearoldhouse
hace 7 añosEnjoyed reading these posts. I'm writing not as a sibling who shared (I had a brother 5.5 years older and we did not share) but as a mother who has her three girls sharing. We live in a 200+ year old house that has been renovated extensively and a modern addition added. We have plenty of space (5 bedrooms + 3.5 baths) but I have my girls sharing. Oldest and youngest are just 4 years apart, so age split is tight.
They have the third floor converted attic to themselves - two small bedrooms with a jack n jill bath. We've made the second room a playroom and no plans to change it. Second room should always be a "common room" in my opinion. At their current ages, the sharing isnt a problem and I know they all benefit from sleeping in a cozy room knowing they have a sister nearby. I assume as we enter teenage years that may change, but I'll hope it never does. We will all have to be flexible as their personalities develop and the estrogen flows through my house like a river.
Learning to share and get along is a life skill. My girls are aquiring it as I type. I have friends who live in areas with much cheaper square footage who think I am crazy to tuck them all into one room. No snowflakes in this house - we won't melt!
Three beds head to foot to head to foot.
Joan Fenendael
hace 7 años200yearoldhouse I find your arrangement charming and well thought out. While it might not work if your girls were spread out in age, or if you had a mix of say, girl, boy, girl I think it's a great solution to who sleeps where.
trishestepp
hace 7 añosI shared a double bed with my two sisters. I always slept at the foot of the bed and my two sisters slept at the head of the bed. Our feet were always kicking each other but it afforded us more space for sleeping that way. All we had in the room was a bed and nothing more. We were very poor, in the Appalachian Mountains, dad a coal miner. We had no doors on any of the rooms and it was actually kind of nice sleeping with siblings because the only source of heat was from a coal burning stove in the living area. We had no indoor plumbing either so we developed strong bladders because of the outdoor toilet. I wouldn't change anything.
fgivelis
hace 7 añosI have a twin sister and we shared a bedroom with a bunkbed. Our brother got his own room but the three of us shared a bathroom. My twin and I also lived in the same college dorm, then lived together back at home afterwards. We also shared a car and the closet. It was hard to split the wardrobe when she got married first! Yes, there was a lot of sharing and I agree not everyone needs (or can afford) their own bedroom.
ljmills41
hace 7 añosMy parents gave up the master bedroom to house my two sisters and myself. Because of a 25 year age span there were never more than 3 of us sharing the room at one time. When we felt the need for space we went next door to visit my grandmother.
lenachristina
hace 7 añosI absolutely loved sharing a room with my sister. I would crawl into her bed if I had a nightmare. We are super close to this day.
Jill K
hace 7 añosUntil college, I shared a room with my older and younger sister and loved it. We learned to share, learned to compromise, and talked until late every night. Even though we live in different states now, we remain very close. (We also had a brother who always wanted to sleep over in our room because he was lonely in his own room!!)
I now have three kids and my older son (5) has been bunking with his three year old sister/best buddy for a couple weeks. They love sharing a room and I am not pushing him to move his mattress back to his own room. My husband, who comes from a well-off family and never shared a bedroom, is appalled at the thought of siblings not "having their own space." This topic is an interesting reminder of how different our backgrounds are. :)Molly Fossett
hace 7 añosI shared a room with an older and a younger sister. One (won't say which) was a bit of a slob...clothes thrown in the bottom of the closet and under her bed. We also shared a double bed until our parents were able to purchase a bunkbed. So, did I love it? No, but I didn't hate it either. It was good for me to learn to maintain my own space while sharing it, how to communicate without anger and how to comfort my sisters. Many life lessons came from those years.
momdotcom41
hace 7 añosMy earliest memories are sharing a bedroom with my younger brother and then I shared a room with 3 sisters when it became "inappropriate " for a sister to share with a brother. There were 2 sets of bunk beds and we shared one dresser with 4 drawers, 1 for each of us. My brother had his room to himself. This seemed perfectly normal to me because that's all I knew. Then my 4 kids were raised in a 5 bedroom home and had their own bedrooms. Today it seems the smaller the family is the bigger the house!
Delora Dickey
hace 7 añosYes. My brother and I shared a bedroom with iron-framed bunk beds. He the upper, me the lower. Mattress support was provided by 1" thick plywood. We'd lay on our backs on the lower bed and press our feet on the upper bed plywood and...PUSH! Slam! Bang! It was one of our favorite nighttime rituals. One night, my mom must have "had enough". She snuck into the room, commanded us to keep our feet where they were, and proceeded to paddle our behinds! We never, ever did that again. It may sound weird, but it's still one of my favorite memories.
Patricia Juszak
hace 7 añosYes, I shared with 3 sisters! 9 kids in our family and only 4 bedrooms, so the 4 girls shared. 2 bunkbeds, not much space, but it was what we knew and we didn't really think much about it. I didn't have my own room until I was in my late 20's and got divorced!
User
hace 7 añosYes. Fortunately, as adults, we've become very close. We're good friends now, but then - not so much.
Julie Taylor
hace 7 añosI shared a bedroom with my 3 sisters (we had trundel beds) until 3rd grade when we moved and then I shared only with my older sister.
edsweat17
hace 7 añosshared a room with my parents, then my brother, then my fellow soldiers, then my wife. did'nt have a room to myself til I got divorced.
Julie Cornett
hace 7 añosMy younger brothers and I shared a room until I was 6,then I always had my own room.Living On The Bayou
hace 7 añosWhen my twin brother and I were one years old,my parents moved into their 3bedroom,1bath house. My older brother by 5years had his own room and my twin and I shared a double bedin another room. Over the next 9years, my 3younger sisters were born. house. It was then that girls'room consisted of a double bed and 2twin beds. All through college I shared the bedroom with my 3younger sisters.we are still close and can retell stories from our youth. We did not put tape to set boundaries, but we clearly stated the area that was our territory and responsible for the upkeep.
When my older brother married, I moved out of the crowded girls'room.,and shared a room with my twin again. When he moved out I finally had a room of my own.
Sharing a room can bring sibling closer, but I remember being possessive of my things and unhappy when someone moved or touched them.i always thought it was unfair that the boys had only2in the room,whereas the girls had 4! The three younger siblings were close in age. I was not.
MyD. L.
hace 7 añosI come from a family where my great-grandmother was one of 6 kids in a poor house and they shared bedrooms, and she had 6 children and they were in a poor house and they shared bedrooms - in both cases when they were young enough mixed gender, then, same gender. I am from a family with 3 kids and we shared a room until school age. After that, my parents added on.
I will say that we didn't have much problem either way when we were young, but my older brother was an early to bed early to rise person and my younger brother was up at 3 in the morning lifting weights, and I was frail in a way that if I didn't get 8 hours of sleep, I would get sick every time and sleep for 24 hours straight sometimes. That might have been the motivation of my parents to separate us.
I have a lot of friends who were sexually abused by older siblings and half-siblings, so I do think it is a good idea to separate them by the hormonal years.
D. L.
hace 7 añosI also would consider things like: colds and flu and ringworm and head lice and chicken pox. Shared spaces and shared door handles and shared beds do make it easier to have all the kids sick at once.
D. L.
hace 7 añosPersonalities matter more than anything. My great grandmother and grandmother became seriously close to their siblings, but they all had laid back personalities and were from a funny family and had a sense of humor about things.
I had other friends who could not change clothing in front of siblings and where one was controlling and needed everything done in very specific ways and their siblings were like The Odd Couple.
Honestly, my younger brother and I are opposite, too, and I am a vegetarian and he only wanted meat. He loves spicy foods and the brightest possible colors and I am more "beach" soothing colors and don't eat any hot foods at all. He is up all night, I needed lots of sleep. He liked hard rock music and electric guitar as loud as possible and I love, love, love silence.
Brenda Hansen
hace 5 añosI shared a small bedroom with two sisters in a 2 bedroom apartment with one bathroom for 12 years. It was totally normal to share a room in those days. When I did get my own room it was really weird for quite awhile.
Kristina
hace 5 añosÚltima modificación: hace 5 añosI wrote some time ago about my own and my children's experiences with bedroom sharing. Now I'll share something more current. I have 2 children who have multiple children in their families. In one family, with 2 girls and 2 boys ranging in age from 10 to almost 2, the kids shared out of necessity while Dad was in graduate school, then when they moved into our basement after he got a great job in our area. Now they're in their own large 6 bedroom home and each child has their own room with the extra bedroom turned into a sewing and craft room for Mom. It probably doesn't matter so much for the boys, who are younger than both girls, but the girls, who are polar opposites, got along much better after moving into their own space. But the newness has worn off and Mom and Dad are once again trying to figure out how to help them get along. At least they each have their own space they can retreat to when they need some alone time.
The second family, my oldest, has 3 girls and 3 boys ranging in age from 13 years to 10 months. Of course they share, and probably will until kids start growing up and move out. The two oldest girls, 13 and 9, used to share with their 3 year old sister but they recently divided a large room in the basement they were using mostly for storage with curtains separating the storage shelves from the rest of the room, which has an exit should an emergency require one. Now the 2 girls share that makeshift bedroom, the 2 boys who are in school continue to share a room, and the 3 year old and baby boy share the one the girls were all in. There are occasional disagreements between the older girls about their space but they manage to work them out. They have done much better than their cousins in that regard, maybe because there is a bigger age difference between them so neither feels they have to establish dominance over the other. Since her sisters moved out of her room, the 3 year old has often been found sleeping with her 6 year old brother, who has always been her protector, because she has an incredible imagination and often scares herself into needing a companion to sleep. She used to climb in bed with her oldest sister. The bedrooms are large enough that once the younger kids are in school, they could all move back together but for now, Mom likes the quiet she sometimes gets in the morning when the younger kids sleep in past the older ones heading off to school. She didn't ever get that when the girls were all together because the younger one would usually wake up when the older girls were wakened.
juliA
hace 5 añosSharing rooms......We started with a 2 bedroom house and then built on a bedroom and a half bath off my parents bedroom. Parents in one bedroom, there was always (it seemed) a crib in their room. Originally, one bedroom had a twin bed and a set of bunk beds. The 4 of us slept together. I was the only girl so I slept with the youngest brother...then another baby (sister) was born and me and that sister slept in a twin bed (by the time she was out of the crib) until I went to college. College was the first time I had my own bed :). First time I had my own room was after graduating from college and getting my first apartment! The large family thing was fun for all of us. My parents went on to have 2 more boys some years later.
Barbara Lynn Latsios
hace 5 añosYes, my my sister who was five years younger. We both had our own beds but I was neat and she was not. Did not like sharing a room. At 18 I left home and moved into my own apartment.
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tvanbens