New year, new bedroom…

[AD: this post contains gifted items]

We’ve been through a lot of big parenting landmarks in the 5 years Max has been on this planet, but I have to admit, I hadn’t really thought getting him his first “big boy bed” would be one of them.

I mean, it’s just a bed, right? How emotional can the experience possibly be?

<Cut to Terry dismantling the cot bed, while I look on aghast, clearly thinking about throwing myself under it to prevent it being removed from the room…>

In fairness to me and my emotions, we were fairly late in moving Max out of his cot bed, purely because we’d picked an extra large one, which transitioned into a bed that was large enough to last him for a good few years. It wasn’t the first place he ever slept, because he was in our room for the first 6 months, but we’d had that bed ready for him since before he was born (I can still vividly remember the day it arrived, and how terrified I was that we were tempting fate by even having it in the house…), and the thought of just suddenly not having it any more was all kinds of emotional for me.

But last year it started to become obvious to us that the time of change was upon us, and when Max finally started outright telling us he wanted a new bed already, we figured the time had come.

Because I am me, I completely forgot to take some photos of his room before we changed it, so here’s one from the archive:

And here’s what it looks like now:

This bed is from Aspace Children’s Furniture, and it’s the ‘Oundle’ bed in silk white. (You can see more of their children’s single beds here) With it we got the Super Deluxe Children’s Mattress, which Max has found super-comfy, as well as super-deluxe. (As it happens, I can testify to this, because I’ve actually ended up sleeping in it twice now: first when Terry had The Bug That Isn’t Covid, But Which Feels a Lot Like Covid, and then again when I had it. So, yes, I have gone above and beyond in my efforts to review this bed for you all…)

(I should add here that Max was staying with his grandparents on both of these occasions. I didn’t just turf him out of his bed so I could have it…)

I really wanted to get rid of the sofa – or at least swap it out for the comfy chair we have in the office – so he’d have more space to play, but Max wouldn’t hear of it, and it’s his room, so we figured he should have the final say. He does actually use that sofa quite a lot, though… We’d originally just put it in the room when he was a baby so we’d have somewhere to sit for night feeds etc, but he’s become very attached to it, so I think it’s there to stay.

On the other side of the room, meanwhile, is his new desk:

This is from IKEA, as is the chair (And the rug. And the shelving unit. And the light…), and its arrival was the cause of much excitement for Max, who spends a LOT of his time drawing lately.

Oh, and there’s one more touch:

An alarm clock! Because every busy 5 year old needs an alarm to keep them on schedule, right?

(OK, he doesn’t actually use the alarm function, needless to say – and neither do we, actually, because Max IS our alarm. He’s been learning to tell the time, though, and was desperate for one of these, so here it is… the heart wants what the heart wants…)

We’d originally said that Max would get his “new” room for his birthday, which was on December 29th. It didn’t take long, however, to figure out that it would be totally impossible for us to pull off that particular surprise – especially with him off school for the holidays – so we set it all up in advance (and, yes, then had to get him something else to open on his birthday…), on the day the bed arrived.

It came flat-packed, but was pretty easy to assemble (She says, having played absolutely no part in the assembly whatsoever, unless you count carrying the packaging back downstairs, and regularly shouting, “Don’t stand there, Max!” And I DO count those things…), so even though it arrived just a couple of hours before Max’s bedtime, Terry was able to get it set up in plenty of time, so Max could sleep in it right away. It’s fantastic quality, as well as being really comfortable, and I’m sure it’ll last him for years to come – which is good to know, because I’m not sure I can ride this particular emotional rollercoaster again, to be honest.

On that note, however, there is some good news… the cot and matching changing table have both gone to our nephew and his girlfriend, who are hoping to start a family soon, so, all being well, they’ll stay in the family, and another little person will get to love them as much as Max did.

Now if we could just figure out a way to slow down time, so we can keep his room like this forever, that would be fantastic…