cohousing – Sarah's Table

The hubs, kids, and I have been co-housing for almost four weeks now.

During that time,

Tim and I had a lousy first night of sleep due to noisy floor boards we weren’t used to and wondered what we were thinking saying yes to all this.

Tim injured his back.

We hosted a birthday party, complete with a bouncy house and the messiest decorate-your-own cupcakes situation you’ve likely seen, for my daughter and three nieces (two of whom traveled from Texas to celebrate with us!).

We worked toward making our new space a home.

My whole self refused to do much of anything one day, after I ran on adrenaline for weeks.

We traveled a few hours to explore new and beautiful places, eat delicious, indulgent food, and jump on hotel beds, just the four of us.

By the end of that trip, Selah was asking when we were going home so she could see “the rest of our family in the house.”

Selah and Nolan love having in-house play mates.

Tim and I have become used to the noise (fans help!) and have been sleeping well.

We still have some boxes to unpack, because sometimes we need to go to the children’s museum or the park or sit on our butt.

Sometimes putting food away is like playing a game of tetris.

Dog hair is in abundance around here.

But overall, being completely honest with you, we are loving living where and how we do. I am so glad we said yes.

My little family and I are knee deep in moving. Boxes of stuff my kids, husband, and I have decided we’d like to keep in our lives are getting packed up and moved from where we sleep and dance now, to another house, just a few miles away.

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I am excited about all the change that’s coming up- it all lines up with who we are as a family. I’m also nervous. A lot of the change we signed up for involves people. Up close. Personal. Even when I’m tired and hungry and am feeling completely DONE with the day.

Friend, we are co-renting a house with another family. They have two kids, too, and a dog, and the house is not large. The kitchen, yard (hooray!), living room, and laundry room are all shared. The laundry room is in the space designated for my little family.

We willingly, cheerfully signed up to do this.

Why?????

It all started out simply enough. The hubs and I were on the lookout for a different rental. Some of our motivation was cost (housing is expensive where we live). I don’t bring in a pay check, either. I have consistently worked part time jobs since my first baby was born, but I stopped when we moved to Colorado because it’s what works best for our family right now.

So, finances are what brought us to the door.

I’m part of an online group for partners of students and faculty members of the seminary where my husband works. One day, a “last chance” type of post came up from another member whom I’d never met. She was looking for another occupant for the house her family was renting so they could continue living there and paying the cheap-for-our-location rent.

Tim (the hubs) and I had been praying about where we would live next and also feeling some shifts in ourselves, so when I saw it, I sent the listing to him. We both said, “let’s check it out.”

We arranged to meet with the family, asked each other a bunch of questions, asked around for references, prayed, talked. Then we signed a lease.

A few things that might be helpful to know, if you’re planning to follow our journey:

-We are viewing this next year as an experiment. We can always move in a year, but both couples involved are motivated to make it work.

-We have healthy boundaries set in place between the two families and are working them out as we go, and meeting over dinner as a household right after we move in to continue that process.

-A lot of the world does this. This is not new. In fact, this happens in a lot of major cities, due to high cost of living.

-My kids are ecstatic. They are acquiring two new friends and a dog and could not be happier about it.

-We will still be hosting dinners.

-I am not entirely sure what the dance party situation will look like- loud ones after dinner are currently the norm for us.