Sharing my sewing room with a 26 year old son

There are disadvantages to converting the (loft room) that was formerly your middle son’s bedroom into a sewing room.  Luke went off to Uni a couple of years ago, and for nearly 18 months the room remained exactly as he left it so that when he paid us a visit that he could just slip into bed at 2-4am and get up at 2-4pm everyday – it was like he never left the house.

When I resumed my passion for sewing, I decided that Luke’s infrequent visits didn’t warrant me keeping the space for a 25 year old who only came home for a finite number of days a year, so I threw out my parent’s old sofa, tidied his mess up, purchased some Ikea drawers to create a space that was conducive for me to sew and still had the ability for Luke to stay over when he wanted to.

In principal this works out well, however when I go back to Luke’s nocturnal habits – he is going to bed only a couple of hours before the rest of the house is ready to get up.  Now this creates a bit of a problem for me because this means my only opportunity to sew is when he vacates the room, at which point most of the day has already passed.

Mike has now popped home for the evening, and I am just bracing myself to ask my son to let me do some sewing – I know that in his mind its his room, and that I am the one taking liberties – however for me – I figure that at what point do I cease to be responsible for the 26 year old, and that when you live in a small cottage that you can do exactly what you want to do, when you want to do it.  In my day, I recall having to jump up out of the armchair that my father always sat in – as children and adults we never even questioned it – that was his chair, he paid the bills and sat where he wanted – there are some times when I wish we could turn back the clock – I don’t feel my children respect me in the same way that we respected our parents, and we didn’t get anywhere near as much as they get from me.

Right I am going to brace myself and tell him I want to use the room now – wish me luck.  I want to finish another fleece following the pattern this time so I can cut out something different.