Visiting Family Makes Us Feel Like Sardines…

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You’re curious about my title, I know.  Family, when visiting, is the main reason we run to Walmart and buy air mattresses, sleeping bags and warehouse club amounts of pillows.

When they give me 24 hours of notice that they’re coming you’ll hear me say to Amber “You’re sleeping on the floor again…we’ll make it up to you somehow…”  Truth is, we only have two bedrooms, and so when family comes visiting, we feel a bit squished (kind of like those sardines in the can), and Amber has to give up her room.

We’ve been through a fair amount of re-arranging to find the best layout for hosting them.  We started with a twin bed, and a blow up air mattress.  The air mattress wasn’t the most comfortable for my dad, so the next time they came we added a memory foam topper to it.  That made it a bit better.

When my sister decided to come visit with her family, we knew this would no longer be the ideal situation, since they would also have a playpen for their son with them.  We had considered transitioning Amber to a larger bed anyway, so this gave us the push we needed.

At first I thought twin over full bunk beds might work.  But we couldn’t find a “T” oriented one anywhere, and that would be the only kind that would fit in her room. 

Futon bunk beds were another option.  We figured that would give Amber enough room to hang out with her friends, give her a place to sleep, have a place to sit when playing video games and provide ‘guest’ accommodations.  We were ready to go that route when I realized a futon mattress would not be the most comfortable of places for my 70+ year old dad with a bad back to sleep on.

Amber just wanted plain bunk beds, or a loft bed with a desk underneath it.  We got a good laugh thinking of my mom climbing the ladder to sleep up top!

In the end, we all agreed upon a queen size bed with a regular mattress.  It fits well in her room, although it does take up most of the space in it.  Regardless there is plenty of room for her friends to hangout on the bed and play the Wii, both my parents have a comfortable place to sleep and my sister can put the playpen in Amber’s walk in closet (with the door left open of course ! ). 

We’re still a bit squished when anyone comes, but it’s usually just for a few days.  But poor Amber still has to sleep on the office floor whenever people come to visit!

Do you have a guest room for when company comes?  Do you all squish in, or do they go to a hotel?!

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