Big Boy and Big Girl
This weekend, the lovely wife and I decided that our kids had been walled up in their cribs long enough.
I’m not sure why we thought this. I mean, in the last 3.4 years they have made zero attempts to flee their pens. I surmise the reason for this is because they have each other and really have no incentive to make a break for it each morning. Or maybe they just like being locked up.
At any rate, I’m not sure why we were so intent on opening the floodgates to freedom. I don’t even think heavy drinking was involved.
Yet there I was on Saturday morning, digging through our guest closet for all the parts we’d need to convert our cribs to big boy and big girl beds. Once the kids figured out what I was doing, they were beyond excited. TheMonk insisted on helping me but I think he was more of a supervisory figure than an actual worker. He even managed to lose a screw in the process. But I love him anyway. I think I’ll keep him. (Although he’s not getting a raise anytime soon.)
Soon enough I had converted the beds and we called the kids in. When they saw the beds they were a tad excited. I think the technical terms is “went ape sh*t.” They started screaming “I got a big girl bed! I got a big boy bed!” and they immediately began to jump on the beds.
This is when we let the air out of their balloons. We established some rules. As parents it is our job to make even the most exciting moments have rules. I’m sure one day the twins will get used to it.
We sat the kids down and explained that they were a “big boy” and a “big girl” now and big boys and big girls don’t get up from their beds when they take naps or go to sleep at night. Big boys and big girls also don’t jump on the beds (we recounted the horrific outcome that befell those 10 little monkeys that, I’m sure, included lots of shots, splints and casts, once they reached the doctor’s office). We made sure these rules were the most solemn of rules and that breaking them would bring on the worst of consequences – namely they would no longer be a “big boy” and a “big girl.”
It worked like a charm.
It’s been three days of naps and bed times and they have yet to leave their beds. They tell us each morning or upon awakening from their naps that they “didn’t get out of bed” and we all do a happy dance and celebrate the fact the kids were still “big.”
This is gonna last, right? Right?
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I think you are right about twins being content staying in their cribs longer. They have each other for entertainment. My twins were 3.5 before they moved to toddler beds. My singleton moved straight to a BIG bed at 2.5. We had to move her as she was climbing out of the crib…I was afraid she was going to break a bone.
Comment by Maggie — October 21, 2008 @ 4:34 am
Keep telling yourself that….
I woke up this morning at just before 6 am (as is the norm) to get kids ready for school. The twins were not in their beds. They were not in their room! At some point during the night they ventured downstairs and after completely destroying the living room decided to sleep on the couch perched above the mess they had left all over the living room floor.
Comment by Ed (zoesdad) — October 21, 2008 @ 7:02 am
My girls love playing together in one of their cribs. I usually out them in together right when I wake up, so that I can have just a few more minutes to make my coffee. They are soothed by one another. It’ll be interesting to see when they will try to make a break for it!
Comment by maya — October 21, 2008 @ 7:25 am
If you need more “sad stories of children who didn’t listen to their parents”, you can always tell them about Tad’s broken arm. You can leave out the part that it was his crib he jumped out of, not his toddler bed. I’ve had more than one parent of my acquaintance use Tad’s broken arm story to great effect.
Comment by Deanna — October 21, 2008 @ 8:20 am
Look how cute and proud they are sitting on their “big” beds! I love it. What a great thing and awesome they are staying in them and not getting out.
Comment by Stephanie — October 21, 2008 @ 8:51 am
Sure Matthew. Sure it will. I mean at least for another month or so. Until they realize the freedom that comes with a big kid bed. But you had to free them sometime. Can’t have a 12 year old still in a crib.
Comment by Issa — October 21, 2008 @ 12:08 pm
how on earth did you make it so long???!?! i’m so impressed. Emily was in a big bed at FIFTEEN months! hahaha! i was always so envious of my friends whose kids didn’t realize they could get out on their own. i hope it lasts for you! for me it lasted oh, um, about 8 seconds with each kid!
Comment by ali — October 21, 2008 @ 12:27 pm
Loved the pics and transition story, but even more so, I love the fact that we have the exact same wallpaper border in our daughter’s bedroom! Does that mean we’ll eventually have to get the same bed you have?!?
Comment by Kevin T. — October 21, 2008 @ 1:36 pm
Oh goodness, thank you for this post! I was beginning to think we were being way too cautious as Da’Gorgeouses are still in their cribs and we have no intention of moving them into toddler beds until we absolutely have to–LOL! Of course it’s past 11 pm and they’re still chatting with each other through the slats in those cribs (they so don’t listen to rules yet!) *sigh*
Hugs & Blessings!
Comment by MamaChanga — October 21, 2008 @ 11:05 pm
What did you wait so long for?! I’m sure you are aking yourselves that all the time now. I could really feel thier excitment. Nice post.
Comment by James — October 22, 2008 @ 9:37 pm
You have twins, and blankets in their cribs neatly stacked and kids sitting so innocently? You bribed them with candy? Admit it…
Comment by archana, mama of twins — October 23, 2008 @ 12:33 am
Hahaha. I think you’ve got about 3 days let before they start escaping.
Comment by Mad Woman — October 23, 2008 @ 10:00 am
I was an escape artist as a child. There was a big bed already in the room..cause my room used to be the guest room.. I LIKED the big bed. Eventually they gave up and let me move.
Comment by mp — October 23, 2008 @ 1:20 pm
I wish my kids were still in their cribs. I may just put bars on their bedroom door.
Comment by Whit — October 24, 2008 @ 12:13 am
I do need to know – did you get one of those “room preppers” in to get the kids’ room ready for the photo shoot? How the heck do you get their room to stay so neat? What other superparenting tricks have you been hiding from us? Or am I just maintaining my role as the President of the Easily Impressed Club? But seriously, their room looks pristine, and I AM impressed!
As for the transition and the staying in bed – it’s fantastic! I love it when things work like a charm. Don’t worry about how long it’ll last – just enjoy it now! You know as well as I do what all these delightful children have taught us – change is beautiful!
Comment by Aina — October 26, 2008 @ 8:17 pm
Of course the proper bedtime behavior will last (NOT). Of course they will stay in their beds (Oh, that is a funny one too). And of course they will not jump on the beds (wow – three for three there).
Our three year olds have bounced their beds clean out of the screws – and get up at 5am, go downstairs and try to cook pancakes. No – I am not kidding.
Comment by Charlise — October 28, 2008 @ 2:02 pm