from the time i was born, my older middle sister and i grew up sharing a room. this led to a love/less than love, on and off again, room sharing, relationship. on one of those ‘less than love’ days, she came up with what i thought was a brilliant idea.
we would get the roll of duck/duct tape from the garage and make a line right down the middle of our room, dividing it in half. we’d then each have our own ‘private’ half, and the other would not be allowed to cross over the border unless invited in and given special permission from the one on the the other side. we worked hard to make it perfectly divided in half, each including the area with our own beds and near our own sides of our closet.
when the job was done, we each sat on our beds, contained within our halves, and i thought smugly, ‘ha! i got the extra window on my side, what does she know, being the older one? she may be a year older, but i must be the one who is smarter, much more clever!’
my private ego party was however, very short-lived, as she soon stood up and announced with a smile that she was going out to play. she promptly exited through the door to our room which was now only on her side.
It’s easy to focus on the things that divide us. Sometimes too easy – Dan Miller
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I didn't have my glasses on.... 
I assume that after the border was set you could only enter and leave the room through your extra window? :)
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austin – well, it was a second-story bedroom so that was a bit challenging….
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Bet it built character…and strong climbing skills. :)
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probably the roots of why spiderman has always been my favorite superhero
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LAUGHING. We had something similar with my Brother.
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dk – i think most kids who’ve shared a room, will have a memory of days like this )
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Yup! Definitely – and there were thoughts about putting up a real wall too…never happened though
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great story and I can relate. I was the oldest of 3 girls and had 2 older brothers in a 3 bedroom home with 1 bathroom. I want everyone’s sympathy as we were all 2 years or less apart in age.
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maryann – yikes! i’m sure many can relate, some more than others )
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And so you wrote that from that same childhood bed, legs crossed, waiting for sis to give you permission to go pee, right? Great piece, KSBeth.
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mark – well, not exactly. as you might expect, i took a more aggressive approach, ripped the tape up and told her she was stupid and stormed out the door to play.
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Our twin girls shared a room until a coupla months ago. They came close to that situation. Gotta admit that their Griqung geopolitical tensions was one of the reasons for moving to a bigger house.
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food and wine – i totally understand )
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Very cute. What happened next? How did the two of you re-negotiate the boundaries?
I shared a bedroom with my older sister, and then later, my younger sister. I never felt the need for dividing the room up, and I don’t think they did either. I think though because our parents were fighting so much that we just kind of leaned on each other more and tried to protect each other. However, this arrangement would have NEVER worked for my oldest sister, who pretty much was permanently on the ‘less than love’ side. Fortunately, I never had to share a room with her. I shudder at the thought…
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casey – (see above in my reply to mark for my resolution). it wasn’t a happy ending and as i called her stupid, i realized it was really my own error in judgement.
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Hahaha! :D That’s the sort of thing my sister would do – now!
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what family fun!
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I know! She’s a character for sure :)
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Love your thought process! Namase. . .
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happy you can appreciate it, and thanks for reading and following ) peace, beth
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My sister and I did this too!!!! We used string though…. And of course the door was on her side as well!! But the closet was on mine:-)
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well i see you’ve lived it tracy )
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As long as it’s all in fun – that’s lovely
In their early years, we actively intervened and encouraged our three kids to share. As adults now, they share everything with great spontaneity.
Peace,
Eric
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thanks eric, yes we were very close actually, in spite of our ups and downs. it sounds like you were wise parents ) beth
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haha, makes me appreciate the fact that I had my own room.
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no doubt )
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My dad shared a room with his 4 brothers. Total chaos.
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i can only imagine!
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Yep, 5 boys and 3 girls.
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That’s funny. The thing that causes you such aggravation as a kid becomes a fond memory at some point in the future.
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so true lyle )
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Great story! I laughed out loud at the ending!
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happy to have made you laugh )
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Not having a sister, I can still relate to this story, only it would have to be titled “The Tale of Two Brothers!” My Dad built all three of our bedrooms, one for the parents, one for the only girl, lucky me, and one for my brothers. Guess what? Fortuitious and smart as he was, he made two bedroom doors to the boys’ room and they were allowed until the carpet money was made and new carpet laid, to have a painted line delineating their sides! Smiles!
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oh that’s great robin!
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This made me laugh out loud. My sibs and I did this stuff all the time. Then we moved to a big old house in the northern New Hampshire where most of the rooms had more than one door and sometimes three. There was always a way out but usually, when things got tough in school or on the parental front, we’d find each other and share the rooms we thought we wanted all for ourselves.
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happy to have made you laugh. yes, children do come up with their own ‘solutions,’ and we do find each other in times of needed support.
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that’s hysterical – thankfully I never had to share a room with my brothers WW3 would have ensued I am sure, so did you escape out the window – even two storey – down the trellis? :-) x
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happy you enjoyed it. actually i ripped up the tape, stormed out of the door, calling her stupid.
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roflmao…. cracking up here – well played lovely. :-)
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Beth, I just love the way you teach such important points with such simple illustrations. Your class must absolutely love having you there.
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thank you michael, and the truth is, i love being there )
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ksbeth, thanks so much for the like on my post ‘Cycling on the Aran Islands’, really appreciated. MM 🍀
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you are very welcome mm, it was lovely. ) beth
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tee hee! My daughters are good with the masking tape. Can’t wait until they grow out of it and start showing as much compassion to each other as they do to other folk. Sisters!
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Who needs the door when there’s Narnia and a whole new world hidden in your closet!
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exactly!
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