We are thinking about moving Josiah from his current room on the main floor of our home to a bedroom upstairs on the second floor.   The space he is in now is meant to be an office.  It has French glass doors, no closet and is rather small.  It’s also very close to the front door.  We have to be vigilant to keep Josiah in and the front door locked.

When all 5 kids were still home, they occupied the upstairs bedrooms.  We kept Josiah downstairs, to keep a close eye on him.  He was not a good sleeper (still a work in progress) and at times wandered the house in the wee hours of the morning.

Now that he’s 22 and outgrowing his current space, it feels like the right time to make a move.  Plus our home sustained extensive water damage last month with walls, a ceiling and flooring needing to be replaced.  Once we get it repaired, I think a move upstairs just makes sense.

I’m not sure how Josiah feels about it though.

He’s been in his current room longer than I can remember.  I think it’s been about 14 years.  That’s a long time to settle in and feel a sense of connection and ownership.

We rarely use the upstairs.  If he moves up there, he will have the entire space to himself.  That is until his siblings come home to visit.  With his bedroom right next to the game room he could hang out and maybe feel a bit like he has a place of his own.

It would also mean he’d transition from his Sleep Safe bed to a regular Queen size bed.  Josiah loves his bed.  He’s enjoyed it for 8 years. Though only a twin size, his mattress is amazing; the most comfortable one in the house.  I think he feels more peaceful and relaxed in his bed.  It’s a safe space where he can hide out from the world to destress and regroup.

Josiah has slept perfectly fine in other beds when we’ve had to evacuate for a hurricane or when on vacation with the Whisperer.  However, the Whisperer is able to get Josiah to do exponentially more than any of the rest of us can.  Those were temporary situations. This would be permanent.

The other perk about moving upstairs is the full bathroom.  Right now Josiah has taken over the only ‘guest’ bathroom on the main floor, which is a half bath.  He needs a place to shower and more space to store his things.

We could also upgrade his room to make it a sensory friendly space with cool lights, colors, textures and sounds.   I think Josiah would love that!

But I’m acutely aware that Josiah is not a huge fan of change.  He likes the familiar and feels comfortable knowing the routine.  How can I possibly assume that switching everything up on him is going to be amazing?

Visions of the Museum of Fine Arts experience last week and countless memories of all the effort required to get Josiah to transition in and then back out of anyplace at almost anytime, even if it’s something he loves to do, swirl through my head.

I imagine if Josiah moved upstairs we could utilize that front room as an office, something it’s never functioned as the entire time we’ve lived here.

We’d almost have the Next Generation Home we’ve been dreaming of by creating it here.

But, before jumping in to design a new space for Josiah, it may be best to just keep his Sleep Safe bed intact in his current room, move him upstairs to the Queen size bed and see how it goes for a night or two.

Anyone care to hazard a guess?