Big and empty

[Jen]

From the article on monster homes Big Bigger Biggest I found this snippet interesting..

<snip>The Banner children, Erica and Danielle, have their own bedrooms and private baths. Mrs. Banner has noticed, though, that the girls usually sleep together in Erica's double bed<snip>

BIg house but the children feel isolated so they abandon one room to keep each other company, much like the Smart sisters did(Elizabeth Smart was abducted from her parents sprawling 6000+ sq ft. home in Utah a few weeks ago. She and her younger sister were sleeping together in the same room)

 

[Downtown]

I'm not a registered NYTimes user, so I can't read the article, but I always remember my mom responding to my whining about having to share a room with my sister that it's good for me - builds character. But then, anything I ever didn't want to do was responded to in the same way: "It's good for you. It builds character." I wince every time I catch myself saying it now.

 

[Jen]

Hey Kelly I usually just post a link rather than the whole article as I'm concerned about bandwidth, though at Cyburbia it seems to be unlimited. You can register for free with NY Times, just your name and email and your in.

I too, had to share a room with my two sisters and slept in a double bed with the youngest for years.

So now my two little girls share a room, it keeps the mess to one room and it will help them build character....

Yeah and their insults to one another are getting more and more creative...

Like this morning I hear " You're not in my party, poopoo diaper" then a door slam.. My 3 yo is gonna be Ms. Trouble I just know it!

 

[Downtown]

I'll have to remember that one about the poo poo diaper. As for sharing, one of the most heated arguments my husband and I ever had was about sharing closet space. He and his sister both had their own room with their own closets and a bathroom for just the two of them. He made some spoiled and whiny comment about how much harder it will be for him to share a closet with me when we have kids and we have to give up the closet space to them than it will be for me, who grew up sharing a room with my sister and a bathroom with 5 people. My head almost came right my shoulders. He quickly retracted his statement. hee.

 

[planasaurus]

My sister and I shared a room and hated it. We were totally opposites and now we hardly ever speak to eachother. Maybe because we were forced to like eachother for so long.

 

[kms]

I shared a room with my two sisters - one double bed, one twin. We didn't compain and got along fine. Things changed when I got my own room (privelege for the oldest) and I became territorial. I don't think it hurts to share and learn to make adjustments, but it may not seem like it at the time!

The sad thing is that some parents think that they are doing good by their children by giving them more, but the kids would be happy with less material and more simple, human contact.

 

[Downtown]

Kms, I'm with you. One of my friends who is in higher ed commented to me after starting a job at a snooty private college (after coming from a State school) that she noticed a lot more problems among freshman roommates at the private school, where a lot less kids had shared rooms growing up than the more middle class crowd that attended the public college.

My sister and I are 5 years apart and I HATED sharing a room with her, because she was so much younger we had nothing in common at all (which now that I think about it, may have helped the situation - less arguments about toys, clothes, etc) but anyway, once I left home for college, and weren't sharing a room anymore, we became really great friends.