Did you share a room with your sibling(s)?

My brother and I each had our own room, it seemed normal. I think there is a lot to be said for sharing bedrooms and at the same time learning to share, full stop.

I shared a room with my sister. She was 6 years older than me and my brothers shared a room and there was 3 of them. I think in a way it did help to share a room. If we hadn’t our age difference would’ve made us strangers. My brothers all keep in touch but I only do with one of hem. The youngest close to my age. The other two were older and always doing their thing. So I had my sister and my youngest brother most of the time. I think it also helps people to learn to have to get along. When my sister was went away one summer to stay with relatives, we both found that we missed each other, even though we always fought about having a clean room and who did what mess.

We both thought it would be great to be apart, but found out that it was better to learn to respect each others space and things and to be responsible for our messes. I also learned that cleaning up sometimes after someone when they are too busy doesn’t mean you are a sucker but rather it shows you care.

There are valuable lessons in both. Having your own room and sharing a room. But being that my sister and I were so different, I can’t help but feel that not sharing a room would’ve meant we wouldn’t be close today.

I had more in common with my youngest brother because we were only a year apart and had the same circle of friends.

Having your own room can teach independence but if there is several years difference, it may make it more difficult to be close as they age. It may also make it more difficult to share.

Plus, secrets are sometimes shared in a dark room once the parents are off to bed.. Kind of hard to do with a wall between you.

I shared a room with my sister up until I was five and she was seven, when our living situation permitted us to have our own rooms. It took some adjusting on our parts because we were so used to sleeping together that it felt strange to be apart, and I’d often wander across the hall to her room and end up falling asleep in there instead. I also didn’t get scared of the dark until we were separated. After about a year of that, our living situation required that we go back to sharing a bedroom again and it stayed that way until I was ten. Neither of us ever had a problem with it, and there are some really good memories that resulted in us sharing bedrooms. I feel that it absolutely helps siblings bond in ways that wouldn’t happen if bedrooms aren’t ever shared.

On the other hand, there comes a time where I also feel that having separate bedrooms is a good thing. For personal expression, privacy and also to instill in a child that they’re okay on their own.

But in the early years, I think there are many, many benefits.

My sister and I shared a room when we were little. When I was 9 and she was 6 (we are 2.5 years apart) we moved, and each of us had our own room. Every night we still slept together until I was 14 or 15. She would come into my room to sleep at night. I had a trundle bed, or when we were still very little we sometimes just made a nest on the floor/rug with blankets and pillows.

A close friend of mine had two boys about 2.5 years apart and they shared a room until their mid teens even though she had a room to spare in her house.

If I had kids it would depend on the kids and the age difference. I’d probably keep a new infant in my master bedroom or a nearby room. If the children were less than 3 years apart I probably would put them in the same room, or want the rooms right next to each other so they easily could be together when they were little.

Nope. My brother is never comfortable with sleeping with me, saying it’s so awkward to sleep with someone of the opposite gender. Ironically, he is still sharing his room with his mother.

I think I might be able to share the room if I had a sister. Maybe it has something to do with the gender.

Yes, my brother, who is four years younger than I am, and I shared a room for most of our childhood. It must have been a non-issue since I cannot recall anything either pro or con about it.
Sharing a room used to be the norm when homes were smaller and households larger.

I did share. It was fine.

I shared a room with my older brother (6 years older) until I was ten, then I shared a room with my younger brother (8 years younger) until I was 14.

My younger brother and I also shared our room with our grandfather, who came to live with us when I was eleven. And when my older brother was home, I moved back in with my younger brother and Grandpa.

My sister always had her own room, since she was the only girl.

I shared a room with my brother, who was 6 years older than me.
We never bonded and were never close, to my knowledge.
In recent years he’s told me stories about major events in our lives as kids that I have absolutely no recognition of.

No, I was the oldest. My two sisters shared a room for many years.

With 8 children in our family, yes, we shared rooms. The 3 oldest boys in one, the three oldest girls in another and the youngest boy and girl in one. It just was the way it was and we didn’t really consider it.

Yes, and in a sense, with all three of the older siblings at some point. When I was born, a sister was 14, the brother was 13, and the other sister was six. The six year old and I shared a room until she graduated from college and got married.

In the meantime, I was shuffled around depending upon who was at college, who was home for breaks, who moved back in, when we had guests, etc. One of the bedrooms was turned into a den. Another officially became the guest room. When the whole family, including spouses, were at the parents’ for holidays, I was relegated to a cot or sofa bed.

It made for an interesting life and no ill-will was ever harbored on my part.

I shared a room with my older sister (older by 10 years). I loved it. She didn’t mind it most of the time, which amazes me. I don’t have children but, if I did,I would get them their own rooms if the finances allowed.

I always shared a room at home. When I was younger, I shared my older brother’s room. He was 12 years older, but we had only 3 bedrooms, and my parents didn’t think it was right for me, the baby boy, to share my room with my sister.

I remember that he liked to play accordion jazz overnight, specifically Dick Contino and Art VanDamme.

I don’t remember sharing the room with both him and my younger brother (3 years younger), but there was a period of time when we were all living in the same house, so I suppose it happened, and I just don’t have any recollection of it, probably because he joined the Army when I was about 7.

I do remember some close bonding times with my little brother. There is a picture around the family somewhere of us both in the same bed, and I am reading to him.

Wow! @Yetanotheruser
Contino was new to me and fantastic. I’m going to look for earlier recordings.

Yeah, until middle school when he moved out.

My sister and I shared a room growing up. We are 2 years apart. I liked it, for the most part At one point, we were maybe going to move and would be able to have our own rooms, but I wanted to continue to share a room, even if another room might be available.

@ibstubro My brother was an accomplished accordionist, although he was extremely self-conscious and never performed for anyone other than family. He taught me to play when I was 7, and I’ve been playing (along with other instruments) ever since!