I am only at the 23 week mark, and as I look around our 2 bedroom townhouse thinking about where all the baby stuff is going to go I begin to panic. How will it all fit? Where will it all go? But then I think of the people who raise families in little apartment in Manhattan, and remind myself if they can do it so can I. But I still am left to ask myself….will I ever feel like we have enough room?
Currently, our little townhouse is perfect. We have 2 very large bedrooms. One is for me and The Captain, and the other is a guest room/office. It has been set up this way for the past 3 years and works great. Now normally it wouldn’t be such a big deal to turn bedroom number 2 into a nursery. Isn’t that what 2nd bedrooms are for? Usually, yes…but in our case we have a few extra things to consider. The first being that I work from home. I am not too worried about this because we plan on moving my office down to the front room of the townhouse (which currently has no real purpose). So the problem there is solved. The biggest problem I face is guests. See, my family lives in PA, and one thing I have loved about this house so far is that when they have come to visit I have been able to make it pretty comfortable for them. Now, with little Pooh Bear on the way, it’s not going to be as easy. At first I was like…we’ll just put a bed in the nursery, and when they stay the baby will come into our room. I mean aren’t they in a bassinet for the first three months? But then I realized that it’s not so easy. Where will I go with the crying baby at 3 am? And once the baby is in a crib…will they even want to be in that room with the baby? In my opinion the answer is no. So on to option two. Making that random front room not only an office, but also a spare room. But how? As of now this is where we are stuck. We are looking into either air mattresses or a pull out sofa. Right now the sleeper sofa is top on the list. Either way not as good as a guest room…but it is what it is. I guess I’m so frustrated because it’s no real secret that I’m not a fan of Long Island, but since it seems we are staying (at least for now) my only real criteria is that my family be able to visit whenever they want. The Captain is great about that, but I just worry that with uncomfortable accomodations will bring less visits. And that my dear readers makes me sad. I know I wouldn’t want to visit where I am uncomfortable.
All the “stuff” will be another challenge. You’d think a baby just needs to sleep and eat, but it’s amazing how much STUFF comes along for the ride. I am super excited about the stuff, and am in no way a neat freak, but where will it all go? Only time will tell!
But the question of the day is, no matter what and no matter where we end up, will we ever have enough room? Will we always fill whatever room we have with so much stuff that we feel squished again? The Captain and I are hoping to move with in a year to a year and a half. We decided that having little Pooh Bear should be our main focus and we can make our home work for now. I think I feel more squished than he does because I am the one home all day when he leaves for the office. But he knows how important it is to me to have my family comforatable. I guess for now we just have to work with what we have. Which don’t get me wrong, is really good. If we only had a basement…..
We had that freak out when we got the positive too! So we are moving….next month! The house I am in now is not good for a baby so we are moving into another townhouse. We will have a large loft above the master bedroom that I will make into the baby’s room for the first few years so we will be able to keep the guest room, the guest room. After that I will have a pullout couch downstairs. Good luck trying to figure it out!
Have you considered installing a Murphy bed in the front room? It might be a little nicer than a pull-out sofa.
I think you might even get MORE visitors than before, who want to see Pooh Bear!! Anyone in your family will be understanding, and more than happy to sleep in the living room when they visit ?
I say enjoy this time, and move to something bigger next year, when you’re ready.
We, too, have a two-bedroom and you’ll make it work! Your family won’t care if they have to sleep on air mattresses. And you may find you don’t visitors as much as you think; is there a hotel nearby? As far as the stuff, you can rotate things – you’ll have a swing at first but when it’s time for bigger toys or an exersaucer, you won’t use the swing anymore so it goes into storage.
Good luck! ?
I dont think it matters on the size of your place – we have a 4 bedroom house and a bonus room and we’re like where the heck is all this stuff going to go. Not the furniture and such, but the toys and gadgets and stuff. And we dont even have a room set up for guests yet (because that room is our office, and the other rooms are storage). So I’m gonna ignore the guest part and put them up in hotels, lol. Hopefully you can make it work!
Invest in a good sleeper sofa! That will take care of the guests. I think they will completely understand. You will always feel like you do not have enough room. We have a 4 bedroom 3.5 bath house and feel like we are running out of space. The truth is, we need to get rid of some things and make better use of the space we have. You are totally right, there are many families that have less room and do just fine. I think it is all in our minds. LOL!!
I think it’s true that you always expand to fill whatever space is available – but it’s equally true that you can always condense your stuff down to fit into whatever (smaller) space is available. I definitely think a sofa-bed sounds like the solution to your problem, but make sure it’s one that’s easy to switch back & forth, so you can still have a sofa when your relatives are staying ?
I wonder what would happen in our little townhouse if we got another addition. I think you’re thinking along the right lines – move the office to the front room and get a bed. They’ve come a long way with air mattresses. Pretty comfortable, actually!
It will all work out. Remember most of the baby gear is gone by the time the baby is just a few months old ?