Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Then there were three

For the first time since there were three, none of us are sharing a bedroom with a sister. Danielle and I had a lot of Big Talks this summer and what it boiled down to was that she wanted college to feel different from high school Somehow. So that third bedroom we used as a study/guest room (but mostly a study) is now Dani's bedroom. I am not making her pay rent. It's not like because she's in that room we no longer rent it out to some random person who used to pay rent. Plus she is going to be a doctor and I am building goodwill for all the free medical advice Dani will be expected to provide.

Alex of course, is devastated. If she could be physically attached to one or both of us at all times, she would be happy. So as hard as Dani was campaigning for change, Alex was campaigning in the opposite direction. She ultimately talked Dani into agreeing to have a sleepover twice a week, dropping to once a week during midterms and finals. I guarantee though, that there will be hurt feelings coming up in a couple of months. Why? Because Alex thought it meant only during Dani's test weeks, but I'm sure Dani will make it also during Al's.

Danielle had a list of changes she wanted, including no curfew (basically, no rules). When she talked with Josh about how to best approach me to get what she wanted, he actually did a really fantastic job of it. He gave her this whole speech about how when you have roommates (you pay rent!) you do not make them worry about you. So while they don't give you a curfew, it's more like you give yourself one, and the courteous thing to do is let your roommates know when they can expect you back.

I don't think Danielle had ever thought of it like that, but she hasn't come to me about the curfew thing yet. So I'm thinking Josh made an impact. When he told me about the talk, Josh also said he felt very fatherly, and almost wanted to remind Danielle to use condoms too.

1 comment:

Nina said...

It sounds like you are doing such a good job with what must be a difficult transition for all of you. And good for Josh for stepping up as well. I know he's been uncomfortable with taking on a "parenting" role (and that totally makes sense), but it's good that he's getting more comfortable with giving some guidance here and there.