A Neat and Clean House vs Children

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-17-2007
A Neat and Clean House vs Children
2597
Tue, 07-27-2010 - 8:35am

For those of you who like a neat and clean house, how do you keep it that way with children?

I find that if I am tied to goal of having a neat and clean house, I become a raging shrew against my children as they proceed to undo all the neatness I have worked so hard to attain. If I made a "neat and clean house" my goal, my children would not have their messy projects that take days/weeks to complete. My children would not pick up a book (casually left out)as they walk through the family room and browse through- discovering once again the mother actually knows about a few good books. I would let them watch more tv/computer time, as they don't make things as messy when they do. I would squash their ideas if I thought it would make too much of a mess. I wouldn't let them cook/experiment in the kitchen- as it is usually more work for me to clean up after they have "cleaned up". So, how do you inspire creativity and imagination in a neat and clean house? Are you on top of them to put things away as soon as they are done even if it is temporary? Where do you put the legos?....... Have you ever allowed them to take over the living room with all of their toys arranged in a city complex (thomas the train things were the Metro, legos and blocks were the buildings....)? How long would it stay up? Would let it be up for the summer so they could add to and change tings around as they got new ideas? Or allowed them to take over half of the family room for a month+ while they build and live in a beaver lodge (using all the empty shoe and other boxes and some that weren't empty)? Even if you have to walk around it everyday to get to the kitchen? Or do you require that all toys be put away everyday?

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iVillage Member
Registered: 05-10-2009
Fri, 07-30-2010 - 3:46pm
Mmmmm, chicken with 40 cloves of garlic. I have a rcipe for that that is divine ... it's cooked in the oven, however.
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-24-2008
Fri, 07-30-2010 - 3:48pm
My definition of functional, competent and independent involves not needing to rely on others to do what you can do for yourself. Obviously if there is something one CAN'T do, that person is going to have to rely on others to get that particular task done.



Agreed.



But there is a reason why, for instance, older people who used to be able to do things like clean their own gutters or shovel their own snow, but no longer can, sometimes refer to the aging process as a gradual loss of one's independence. Several of our neighbors are at that stage right now, and they are not particularly happy about it.



Ok, so let's take that. Presumably these are people who shoveled and cleaned gutters and want to continue doing it, and feel some sense of loss that they can no longer do it. I never felt that about changing tires. I was never able to do it. I tried many times. I've gotten several lug nuts off, just never all four. Yet, I've had many flat tires and always managed fine. The way I managed it was an exercise of my independence, it was an example of my independence. I have not lost that independence when I became ill and less able to do things of that nature. Since there has been no loss, and since I remain capable and independent, the analogy of the aging person who feels a loss does not work for someone in my situation.



And the analogy certainly doesn't work for someone who can do it physically, but does not care to learn or actually do it, and prefers to use AAA or something like that. All this example shows is that competence can take on many different faces, and independence can be as much a feeling as anything else.

Say not, 'I have found the truth,' but rather, 'I have found a truth.' -Kahlil Gibran



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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-15-2006
Fri, 07-30-2010 - 3:49pm
"I don't want them to think that in the real world, they'll always get exactly what they want for dinner. "

Actually most adults do get exactly what they want for dinner


psst, you can't speak for most unless you know most, LOL.

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-10-2009
Fri, 07-30-2010 - 3:50pm

I don't think I use it to *cook* anything.

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-15-2006
Fri, 07-30-2010 - 3:57pm
LOL.

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-08-2009
Fri, 07-30-2010 - 4:03pm
As I have already stated, no, I would not. There would be a satrch and at least one vegetable also served, so no one is going to starve, and the one person who does not care to eat what the rest of the family is having is free to make something else later.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-02-2010
Fri, 07-30-2010 - 4:04pm

<>

If they want to fix themselves the meal they want all the time, it can happen. But that's not likely to happen if someone else is doing the cooking on a regular basis.

Why not?

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That's more plausible but very expensive. And it could pose other problems too: 1) One really wants pizza for dinner, but they're meeting friends at a mexican restaurant. Do they force everyone else to change plans so they can have pizza? 2) they really want Thai food, but there isn't a Thai restaurant in town.

What if they don't like what the others have chosen?

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-22-2009
Fri, 07-30-2010 - 4:05pm
i haven't made it in a long time but it's possible that the original recipe was meant to cook in the oven for several hours -- and I decided to throw it in my crockpot instead. it still tasted yummy!
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-02-2010
Fri, 07-30-2010 - 4:06pm
At what age did you start this with your children?
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-22-2009
Fri, 07-30-2010 - 4:07pm
It's from Billy Currington -- a song called "Good Directions".

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