Twins boy and girl aged 10: can they share a room?

[bella1968]

sorry if this is the wrong place but I need some advice and am new to mumsnet.

I want to separate with my h and am currently planning how I will manage the house with my two children. We have a 3 bedroomed semi-detached house but in order to keep the house I would have to generate some extra income, namely renting a room to a professional. This would mean that I would have to put the children into 1 double room or my daughter shares a superking bed with me and son has his own room.

Is this ok or just wrong? any advice welcome.

Thanks.

[ilovepowerhoop]

is there any way you could partition off the room so it had separate private sides for each as once they reach puberty they are not going to want to share a room/will want more privacy? In council housing I think it is around age 11 that they look at splitting up sharing of girls and boys.

[Cuxibamba]

Could you put a screen between them/curtain thing? Tbh, they need privacy but it's a lot better than your DD sharing with you.

[Russianfudge]

I think the divide is a good idea. It seems okay now to share with your dd but in just a couple of years the lack of space between the two of you will not be conductive to a healthy relationship.

And you may meet someone new

[SweetEspresso]

At this age it's fine. I shared till this age with my brother, slightly younger, and it was no problem. Eventually they will want their own space but till then a divide is helpful.

[bella1968]

the children actually suggested a curtain, in fact they were very happy about it, I think it'd be quite fun for them

thanks for the answers/advice.

[eurochick]

Are you easily going to find a professional who wants to share with a family?

[Russianfudge]

We've lots who do it round here eurochick. I actually never got round to it because DH moved back in but when I advertised our spare room I was quite shocked. Lots of people working away from home wanting to lay their head somewhere during the week.
Another possibility for OP is a mature student. I have two friends who rent to those. They can't afford not to house share, but they don't want the parties and booze that a young student house share offers.

[bella1968]

eurochick I don't know at the moment but I've looked at a few websites for renting to professional who live in the country or up north and have a secondment in London.

I can but try and I'll do all I can to make the house look good inside and out. I am in a good location for travelling into the city of London so hopefully I should be able to.

[AppleAndBlackberry]

There's no law about it so if they are keen then I'm sure it's fine at 10, but you may want to bear in mind that may only be another year or two before they do want more privacy than a curtain.

[duchesse]

Would have thought they'd be fine for 3-4 years.

[duchesse]

Especially since they're twins - no awkward age gaps.