Why don’t kids share bedrooms anymore? Why is it considered shocking or abusive to suggest that kids could share one?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't yours? Lots of reasons including we have enough bedrooms per kid as we don't have more kids than we can house. Some kids do better with personal space. Some kids are playmates and will play vs. sleep. And, because we can. Why do you care?

Lol. My dad grew up in an Irish Catholic family in the 60s & 70s. 9 kids in the family. Large age gaps, but there were definitely periods of 3-4 kids per bedroom.

+1. We bought this house from a family who had raised 10 kids in it. Eight boys ( ) and two girls. There was a lot of sharing. Also lots of sleeping on the upstairs sleeping porch, and evidence kids were sleeping in the unfinished attic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because we have a boy and a girl.

But I'm confused by the new imperative to give each kid their own bathroom. The four of us share two bathrooms and it's fine.

Their own bathrooms? Lol.

I have 2 boys and they share a room. We have three bedrooms but they wanted to share and it frees up the other room for guests. It also streamlines bedtime and they entertain each other in the morning. I will split them up if/when they want it, but I’d like to keep it going as long as we can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because we have a boy and a girl.

But I'm confused by the new imperative to give each kid their own bathroom. The four of us share two bathrooms and it's fine.

Their own bathrooms? Lol.

I have 2 boys and they share a room. We have three bedrooms but they wanted to share and it frees up the other room for guests. It also streamlines bedtime and they entertain each other in the morning. I will split them up if/when they want it, but I’d like to keep it going as long as we can.

Pp. Will add, no one has ever told me this is wrong or abusive. And they will certainly never have their own bathrooms unless one of them moves to the basement.

[Anonymous]

My three girls share a room (2,6,9). We only have a two bedroom condo and don’t have the money to move. We live in 1200 sq ft. We make it work.

[Anonymous]

My boys (5 and 7) prefer to share a room even though we have enough space for them to have their own rooms. I also love it because it really builds a bond while teaching them how to compromise and respect privacy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
As a foreign parent living here with children, what shocked me most (apart from the gun thing, and the healthcare thing) is that the American Dream suggest each child should have their own bedroom... but then come school field trips, and it's 4 to a room, with 2 to a bed. And then college, with tiny dorms and several kids per room. In my home country, where siblings often shared bedrooms, no one is expected to share beds on field trips, and there are no campuses with shared dorms - students get rentals, with one person per room.

The USA is a wonderful country in general, but certain things about it don't make sense.

OMG this. Adults sharing rooms in college is so foreign to me. How do they have any privacy?

[Anonymous]

We have a four-bedroom house and a jack-and-jill set-up for our two girls. They still prefer to share one bedroom with bunkbeds, lol. They are 13 and 15 and BFFs. Every once in awhile I ask if they're ready to start using separate bedrooms/separate the bunks, and they both turn me down. One of them keeps her clothes in the other room's dresser & closet, but they sleep and spend their time in the shared room.

Totally different than my experience growing up. I shared a room and a double bed with my sister until I was 13 (I have no idea why my parents didn't at least do bunkbeds!) We did not get along, I hated it with a passion and was so much happier when we moved and both had our own separate rooms.

[Anonymous]

Many people share rooms.
Perhaps you engage with those who don’t, but it’s quite normal to share bedrooms.

[Anonymous]

It’s fine for little kids but tweens and teens need their own space.

It is borderline neglectful imo not to give them their own room if you can.

[Anonymous]

Because it's super creepy to have kids of the opposite sex sharing a bedroom. And since kids grow up, well, do the math.

[Anonymous]

We have 2 kids with a 6 year age gap and they still share a room. We have 4 bedrooms, so it's not like they can't have their own room. But it started out like this and it just hasn't changed. We like it that way because it simplifies the mess to one room.

It also makes it easier because we have a large open playroom/study room off the kids' bedroom, where they do all their studying/playing/etc. So the bedroom is used strictly for sleeping and storing clothes (aka strewing clothes on the floor while looking for that perfect pair of black leggings)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
As a foreign parent living here with children, what shocked me most (apart from the gun thing, and the healthcare thing) is that the American Dream suggest each child should have their own bedroom... but then come school field trips, and it's 4 to a room, with 2 to a bed. And then college, with tiny dorms and several kids per room. In my home country, where siblings often shared bedrooms, no one is expected to share beds on field trips, and there are no campuses with shared dorms - students get rentals, with one person per room.

The USA is a wonderful country in general, but certain things about it don't make sense.

OMG this. Adults sharing rooms in college is so foreign to me. How do they have any privacy?

I honestly can't recall what I did in the college years. I was definitely too conservative back then to completely change in front of my roommate. I think I always kept my towel on while changing my undergarments, and other than that was comfortable in undergarments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because it's super creepy to have kids of the opposite sex sharing a bedroom. And since kids grow up, well, do the math.

Can you do the math for me? Im not sure I follow. Are you saying that children of the opposite sex who share a room will start having sexual relations with each other when they grow up?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because it's super creepy to have kids of the opposite sex sharing a bedroom. And since kids grow up, well, do the math.

Can you do the math for me? Im not sure I follow. Are you saying that children of the opposite sex who share a room will start having sexual relations with each other when they grow up?

I'm not that PP but I think it's creepy cause it's then that kids really get into masturbating so it just gets awkward, though sure, kids discover this at earlier ages. I say this as a girl who was quite... er, hormonal in my teens. Glad I had my privacy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because it's super creepy to have kids of the opposite sex sharing a bedroom. And since kids grow up, well, do the math.

Can you do the math for me? Im not sure I follow. Are you saying that children of the opposite sex who share a room will start having sexual relations with each other when they grow up?

You think it's appropriate to have teenage boys and girls sharing a room? Wowsers.