A Neat and Clean House vs Children
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| 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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I agree that's a difference between PB&J and say chicken cooked in the oven, but what PD was saying earlier is that she serves something she knows that child will eat. So she doesn't get to the point the child refuses it and needs to make a sandwich, the child likes what is served because the meal was planned with that child in mind. Sounds like a lot of people do that, even if they don't necessarily prepare two sources of protein they may make sure there is something on the table that will be eaten. It seems to me ensuring every child has a source of protein they will eat on the table when dinner is served is not a bad thing at all.
Ten Rules for Being Human
Malcolm Gladwell Blink
It sounds like they weren't mortified because it was their behavior at the center of most of the drama. If a parent wants to prevent that kind of behavior, the place to start is in the mirror. My ODD might not like what is served but she'd find something she could eat and just eat that, or take a small portion and try to eat it. Being catered to at home much of the time doesn't make her a brat, and doesn't make me fall all over her and myself trying to fix or change the situation in the presence of others. I've heard her tell people she's fine and not hungry, I've never had her demand someone else make her a special meal.
That little girl you describe has figured out exactly how to whip her parents into a frenzy all for her benefit, and it's likely got nothing to do with chicken nuggets.
Ten Rules for Being Human
Malcolm Gladwell Blink
I wish my house was clean!
Kitty
Proud member of the Rainbow Poop Debate Squad
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Kitty
"If you can't annoy somebody with what you write, I think there's little point in writing."-- Kingsley Amis, British novelist, 1971 t .
Kitty
Proud member of the Rainbow Poop Debate Squad
************
Kitty
"If you can't annoy somebody with what you write, I think there's little point in writing."-- Kingsley Amis, British novelist, 1971 t .
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