About a year and a half ago we decided a major overhaul of personal space was in order. The kids – lovely, delightful, enchanting creatures that they are – were getting on each other’s nerves, especially at bedtime when everyone was raw from a long day. They needed space to get away from one another…not just in the evenings, but to take a break anytime there was a need.

And truth be told, BrightSide and I had pretty much hit the wall when it came to mediating arguments over whose foot touched whose in the bathroom. Are you kidding me? You guys are in fifth and sixth grade!! Jesus, take the wheel.

Bear let T-man choose whether to move upstairs to the bonus room or stay put in their hallway, taking over both rooms downstairs. He chose the latter, changing her bedroom into a mini man cave for a teen. We call it the game room.

T-man’s game room is one of his design. He saved up his own money to buy a gaming system (because cruel parents who refuse to spend money on video games, obvs) and we put a tv in there. I found gaming chairs on a Black Friday sale that can pump out volume at a sweet-Jesus-is-the-paint-peeling-off-the-walls-in-there level, and we added a futon so he’d have a couch along with the option to stretch out.

All that is well and good, but what he really has is a space that’s entirely T-man’s. He is in his element when he’s gaming online with a friend from school and they’re screaming about – well, I have no idea what they’re screaming about, but it’s something super exciting to him. The game room is a great spot when his friends come over, a safe space to hang with the guys, watching movies or YouTube or gaming and such.

We all need our space, and T-man’s especially lucky to have one to call his own.