Big Kid Beds

With Lucie and Ryan getting close to 40 inches tall, Megan and I have reluctantly started thinking about moving them to big kid beds. Personally, the thought of them roaming the halls at night terrifies me. I take great comfort in knowing that we'll find them in more or less the same position come morning. No doubt, plenty of fellow parents who have struggled with crib tents, climb-outs, and nighttime escapes would consider this a problem they would love to have (as Brian and Jen discovered in coming up with reason #47 why every household should have multiple bungee cords).

Coincidentally, Megan's Aunt Betsy recently realized that Cousin Scottie (if can you call a nearly 6' boy Scottie) had outgrown his current twin bed. To be honest, he probably outgrew it over a year ago. In looking at this picture, it seems silly to think of Scottie and L & R sleeping in the same size bed. But when Betsy called, we jumped at the chance to pick up his hand-me-down. Especially since she offered a second matching bed, dresser and desk as well.

There were a few logistical problems to overcome. Primarily that we don't have a vehicle capable of transporting two beds, a dresser, and desk. A quick call to U-Haul secured a nice pickup with an extra long truckbed. On to problem #2 — upon hearing that only Daddy would get to ride in the pickup truck and pick up the beds, L & R protested wildly at the injustice. So I canceled the reservation at U-Haul and started searching to find a 4-door pickup to rent. Five calls later and we had a nice, shiny Ford F150 at our disposal.

The hour-long trip passed quickly, especially since Lucie and Ryan were armed with personal Kleenex boxes. With Betsy graciously providing lunch and handling story-time, we made relatively quick work taking apart the bedroom set. But the last problem was Betsy and family have a lot of nice stuff and our little truck began to get very full. Armed with only a 30' section of rope, we managed to strap everything down securely enough to brave the freeway ride home. I'm proud to say no pieces were lost or broken.

For now, we've decided to store the new beds in the garage. Hopefully, we can get over our big kid bed fears before Lucie and Ryan are ready for Kindergarten...