Children of Opposite Sex Sharing a Room

[acacia]

I have an 7 year old son and a 10 year old daughter. I am a newly single mom and on a very tight income. I can not afford more than a two bedroom apartment without sacrificing major safety. I have a 1000 sq ft 2 bedroom apartment. I have set my children up with loft beds and down the center of the room I have a wall of book cases. And I have hung decorative themed curtains to each childs liking across the room. (ocean for my daughter and star wars for my son) So the only common area in the room is the homework desk and closet. They have privacy and plenty of play room on each side with shelves for storage, and carte blanche on decorating their "room". My question is: Is this adequate for them. My ex has made comments/threats that this is not acceptable and the children should have their own room which he would be happy to provide if I allow him the majority of custody (currently 50/50). I know they are scare tactics, but should I be concerned. To move to a 3 bedroom would be a jump of $300+ dollars not counting increased cost of utilites. Thank you for your help and advice.

 

[txls]

Ignore his scare tactics. There are no laws whatsoever about children having separate bedrooms. Many, many people cannot afford a 3 bedroom place. You are just fine with the current arrangements.

 

[CdwJava]

Ditto. There is no law that requires separate bedrooms for children of different genders. If you could not feed or clothe the children, THAT might be a problem. But, having them share a bedroom should not be.

 

[shrinkmaster]

This is a common source of battle between separated/divorce parents. It rarely goes anywhere so dont worry. If your that concerned you sleep in front room and give kids both bedrooms but again there isnt really a concern at this point

 

[mightymoose]

It really surprises me how often this topic even comes up.

 

[txls]

I know, we need a FAQ section and this should be one of the subjects. There are rules about separate bedrooms for children in foster care, so I think this is where people get this idea.

 

[CdwJava]

I agree. As a past foster parent, I found some of the rules to be somewhat befuddling. It also made for two sets of standards (my kids vs. foster kids) with regards to discipline when it came to children. It could make for a difficult family dynamic to muddle through.

 

[shrinkmaster]

Avoiding these petty fights as parents will only enhance your parenting and your children http://www.parentnook.com/co-parenting-avoid-these-petty-fights/