Separate Rooms

I told my mom about my racing heart scare the day after it happened.  She was concerned and offered to come up if I had any more issues or at least to wake up Doug.  She told my dad about the incident later that day and his response, "Why does Doug sleep in a separate bedroom?"  Later that week Meg had a friend over and she told her about my heart scare as well.  At the end of the story her friend said, "Wait, your mom and dad sleep in separate rooms?"

Meg and I responded to those questions with the exact same answer, "If you had to sleep in the same room as Doug, you'd ask for separate rooms as well."  Until those comments I had never really thought about Doug and I sleeping apart.  We didn't plan that when we got married, but then again he didn't really snore then.  I remember complaining about it several times to my mom around the time Cal was born.  She said that all men snore and after awhile I would get used to it.  She changed her mind, however, after we all stayed at my grandparents home in Florida.  She had gotten up in the middle of the night and realized that Doug's snoring was more like a freight train.

Over the years we talked about what to do about the snoring.  Doug wasn't interested in surgery, sleep clinics or a sleep apnea machine.  Dr. Mulry had told us that they probably wouldn't help much anyway.  We did try some nose strips which helped a little, but were uncomfortable to wear nightly.  Doug saved those for times when we all stayed together on vacation.  For the longest time we solved the problem by me waking him up when he got really loud and having him move to the couch.  

This fall with only three of us in the house, we decided that we tried a new solution - I would move upstairs to Meg's room.  I liked her mattress better and it worked well for us as Cam, Doug and I each had our own bedroom and bathroom.  That changed when Meg moved back home in March.  Thankfully, we had cleaned out and repainted the guest room which Doug said he would move in to until Meg went back.  We never dreamed that it would be five months later, but it worked for us during the pandemic, especially since Cal preferred sleeping in the basement instead of the extra bedroom.  

This week we decided to try something else.  After Meg left, I thoroughly cleaned her room and bedroom so that Doug could move up there.  We have been trying to keep everyone separate with COVID concerns and this would allow everyone to not only have their own room but also bathroom.  Doug was happy with the arrangement when he got home tonight from a long day at work and a 2+ hour county council budget meeting.  I know that it may seem strange to some, but having separate rooms has worked well for our family.  We've made it this way for almost thirty years, so there has to be some benefit in it.