Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

Boing! Boing! Boing!

We call our oldest daughter lots of things.  Most of them are nice. 

We call her a worm when she wiggles, a puppy when she barks or licks things (usually us!), and a kangaroo when she is jumping around the house.

Recently, she got her own room and Big Girl bed.

Needless to say, she loves jumping on her bed.

Now she's got a bed of her own to bounce around on.  Her previous bed was the crib that's now being occupied by her baby sister.  She tried to jump around in that, but it wasn't much fun. It didn't have much spring to it.  Not that it necessarily deterred her.

Now, I don't know how things were at your house when you were growing up, but at my house a big rule was no jumping on the beds!

My brother and I used to have fun playing Sumo on our parents bed, using the pillows to knock into each other. (Coincidentally, we both also married asian women.) Of course, we'd try not to get caught doing it, but the messed up bed sheets and pillows were a dead giveaway.  We hadn't learned how to cover our tracks yet.

We never had a trampoline, but some of our friends did. We would go over to their place to get out all our jumping energy.

American Futon

Now my wife, she grew up in Japan.  She had the traditional Japanese style bedding, the Futon.  For those that aren't aware, the Japanese futon is very different from an American Futon.  An American Futon is a couch that pulls out and becomes a bed.  

Japanese Style Futon
Borrowed from Mr Wabu's Flickr

The Japanese Futon is what we would call a bed roll.  It is a large soft pad like a pillow for one person that goes on the floor each night.  Then, it is rolled or folded up each morning and put away to make space for other things during the day.

When you think about it, it makes a lot of sense: The bed is only needed when you sleep, so get rid of it during the day, and you have more room to do other things like play and eat.  Plus, Japanese homes tend to be on the small side to begin with, so space is already at a premium.

Since this is what my wife had growing up, she never had the experience of jumping on her bed. Hence, the children's song my kid loves to hear repeatedly "No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" had no real meaning to her.

In fact, when discussing this post with my wife, she said "Jumping on the bed is a 'No-no?' I didn't know."

Her first experience with jumping on a bed came when she went traveling with her family while young.  She remembers that she and her sister stayed at a hotel with beds, and that the two of them couldn't help themselves from jumping on it, it was so much fun!

So when our kid jumps on the bed, she didn't think anything of it.

For me, I am OK with her jumping on the bed.  It's actually the same bed I had as a kid, and I put it together myself for her.  I know what that bed has been through, and that the boards holding the mattress are sturdy.  As for the mattress itself, it's from Ikea.  At her current size, she's not going to destroy it any time soon.

I'm OK with her getting her energy out this way, and learning how to keep and regain her balance through bouncing.  I'm sure her American Grandparents wouldn't be too happy about this.

For now, she enjoys bouncing around, and I'll let her have this fun.  As long as she keeps her balance, she won't be like the little monkey in the song, and bump her head.

If that does happen, then for sure the doctor will tell us "No More Jumping on the Bed!"

I wonder if they'll be able to do it with a straight face though.