Personal Bubble

My kids are exactly like me!  I know this isn't a shocking revelation, but it is the truth!  They are just like me, and they crave their personal space, just like I do.  They need to be loved and disciplined.  They need to feel special, and they need the occasional reality check.  They need to have one on one time with both me and my husband, and they need time to themselves.
I have noticed in the past few weeks, that my kids both REALLY love spending time in their rooms, playing by themselves.  They play well with others, but they enjoy their personal play time.  I have many friends with kids the same age as my own, and I hear more often than not that their kids do not enjoy playing alone in their room.  For a while, I felt like maybe it was bad that my kids were so "different" and that maybe this would lead to social skill issues.  BUT, if you have met my kids... you know this just isn't the case!  Both of my children are very social.  So, I was a little stumped.  Why do they like all of the alone time?!?!
I went into their rooms to do a little evaluation...

Abbie's room is very pretty.  I enjoyed making it fun and frilly for her, because she is our little princess.  She loves all things Barbie, My Little Pony, and Disney Princess!  Here is a panoramic picture of her room.

She recently asked me to sell a few of her toys that she no longer plays with, and buy her a Barbie house!  I was happy to oblige her request, and purchased this KidKraft Barbie Mansion.  Unfortunately, it arrived at our house, un-assembled!!!  It took me over 4 hours, and I wanted to throw the whole thing out the window a few times, but I managed to get it build!
She LOVES this house, and what little girl wouldn't?!?! The house is so tall, that she needs a stool to reach the top level.  She really likes that it came with lots of cute furniture, and lots of places that her Barbie's can host parties for their friends!
Abbie was given a lot of the Barbie dolls, clothes, and furniture that I had as a kid.  I am noticing that because fashion trends have come and gone a few times since the 90's, that she isn't very into the stuff from my past. She has used money to purchase new clothes, and has been gifted with lots of fun Barbie stuff.  So, I put away all of the things that I didn't want to get messed up. Cleaning out a lot of the mess, has also given her more excitement for playing with them!  She can see the things that she likes, and there is less mess to cleanup in the end!  I really enjoy listening to her use her imagination and express her sweet creativity when she plays Barbies!!

More toys line the shelves by her window for her to use her imagination with!  Her ponies, tea set, mini princess dolls, doll camper set, and the Polly Pockets from my childhood are all toys that she seems to enjoy playing with.  Sometimes she plays with one toy, and sometimes she has them all playing together!  I walked in one day and all of her dolls of every size and toy set were in the floor together.  I asked her what she was playing, and she said "Mom, can't you tell, it's Thanksgiving"!!

Her imagination runs like a race horse in this room, and she thrives on it.  We put her other shelf with toys into her closet, so that she has a bit more floor space to play on.  It was a very good choice, that she doesn't seem to mind a bit!  The toys on this shelf are her favorites, and she has easy access to the others if she gets bored.  Again, this alleviated some of the clutter in her room, and she seems to appreciate the less is more ideal!  Although, who am I kidding, the child doesn't have less of anything!

Her American Girl Bitty Baby is one of her favorite toys!  The purple drawers hold all of her Barbies, and all of their clothes.  Her Bitty Baby sleeps in her crib, and all of the baby doll clothes and toys are in the basket under her nightstand.
She played with baby dolls when she was 2, but she seemed to grow out of them and be over that stage.  A couple of months ago, that phase came back in full force!  Abbie's aunt Gin graciously gifted her with a full baby doll set!  Her stroller stays in the playroom, downstairs, and all of the other goodies stay in her bedroom for easy baby care access!

Her karaoke machine is one of her favorite things to do with friends and visitors!  She isn't exactly going to be the next big pop star, but she enjoys every second of singing and dancing, and really knows how to put on a good show!  The basket under this nightstand holds all of her baby doll goodies, and the drawer is full with her favorite bedtime story books.  Her jewelry box was a Christmas gift from Dawn, my dad's awesome girl friend!  She wanted Abbie to have a real jewelry box, and Abbie absolutely loves it.  She feels so grown up and special.

I made this lamp shade for her nursery, and it has stayed in her room for 5 years.  Her double curtains make me smile.  The bright pink and green make the room so bright and happy.  Abbie also loves having pictures of her friends around her room, and I need to be better about updating them!

 Abbie's bed is so sweet and girly!  I purchased her quilt set off ebay.  It is made by Jillian's Closet, and it was EXACTLY what I was looking for!  Her bed is loaded with stuffed animals, like most children's beds are!  She has her Elsa, Anna, and her ponies close by when she sleeps, and her absolute favorite, is the ladybug that lights up the ceiling with stars!

This bed is from IKEA, and a trundle pulls out from it for friend's to spend the night!  She has 2 IKEA foam mattresses stacked, and when the trundle slides out, one mattress slides off to the side!
Even better, it also includes 3 HUGE drawers underneath.  One is filled with extra bedding and blankets, one with pajamas, and one with dress up clothes!  It is the perfect bed for a little girl!

I found an awesome Disney Princess wall decal set at Costco a little over a year ago.  The castle was so beautiful, and I could immediately picture her wall with her name in glittery letters beside the castle!  I found the letters in the dollar bins at Michael's!! They were all out of the letter I, so I purchased an H, and cut out the center!  I love the way it looks, so regal!!

Her portrait was done from the Belly Pictures I had shot when I was pregnant with Brady.  I loved this picture so much that we decided to have a canvas made for her room!  It won't be long and we will need to do a new canvas.  She has changed so much since this picture was taken 3.5 years ago!!

Abbie was given her very own "Vanister" for Christmas, from her sweet Poppy Scott!  She loves having a place that she can play with make up.  She lays her clothes out for school every morning at her vanity, and gets herself ready for the day!

Her cheer bow collection started growing fast, so I made her a bow holder that hangs above the vanity.  She feels like a "lady" having a place to get ready every day!

After my evaluation of her room was complete, I realized exactly why she enjoys being in her so much, it is PERFECT for her!  She loves everything about it, because everything is her favorite!  It was custom built for her, and what little girl wouldn't love playing with all of her super cute and fun toys!?!?  This is her personal space, her comfort zone, her bubble!  I love that she loves the space we created for her!!