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: 12-07-2003
Fri, 07-30-2010 - 7:57pm
Of course people's tastes change. There are lots of things that I like better now than I did when I was a kid and there are things I liked better as a kid than I do now. However, there isn't really anything I would refuse to eat.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-02-2010
Fri, 07-30-2010 - 7:59pm

But that is you. There are many people who were *made* to eat things as kids, many who were not allowed to get up from the table until ALL of their food was finished. As adults they might be picky because what they used to eat as a kid was not what they really liked and were made to eat.

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-07-2003
Fri, 07-30-2010 - 8:03pm

My guess is that there is a correlation there. Which is one of the reasons, I don't make my picky eater DD eat things she doesn't want to eat. However, I also know people who were catered to as children who also refuse to eat the same things as adults that they refused as children.

A good example why I feel this way: DH and I have really different preferences when it comes to food. He is completely and totally a meat and starch kind of guy. I prefer veggie-based meals. Since we both are willing to try pretty much everything, we've been able to find lots of interesting foods that are good compromises for us. The most recent example was Thursday night. We belong to a CSA and got eggplant, zucchini, and green peppers in our share. Those happen to be some of DH's least favorite vegetables. He decided to make Ratatouille and absolutely loved it. As we were eating, he commented that he really thought he would hate it, since it had all of his least favorite vegetables in it. I don't want my kids to miss out on that kind of culinary discovery, because they, for example, refuse to ever eat anything with eggplant. An example on my end was braised, stuffed porkchops. That's not the kind of thing I usually go for, but I loved it.

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-07-2003
Fri, 07-30-2010 - 8:06pm
Exactly. Which is why I would never force my kids to eat something. However, I think making different foods available on a regular basis, having some part of a meal that they do like, and not cooking separate entrees for them does probably make more adventurous eaters in the long run.
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-22-2005
Fri, 07-30-2010 - 8:15pm

I don't think anyone here has proposed MAKING a child eat what is served. I don't see any problem with serving a child food and then letting the child CHOOSE whether to 1) eat what has been served or 2)come up with their own (reasonably healthy) alternative.












iVillage Member
Registered: 06-24-2008
Fri, 07-30-2010 - 8:16pm

Nothing wrong with that. Were you disagreeing with what I said in the previous post or just tacking this on to the end of the thread?

I have found accommodating preferences to be not that big of deal, and compared to trying to remove all wheat, barley and rye from my meal plan it's no big deal at all. It hasn't resulted in whiny, bratty children. Picky and whiny/bratty aren't synonymous.

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



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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-08-2009
Fri, 07-30-2010 - 8:19pm
I did not say I considered nursing a meal. I said that since my toddlers were geting the majority of their calories through nursing, that it did not matter if the child didn't really eat at a meal ocasionally.
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-09-2010
Fri, 07-30-2010 - 8:22pm

ITA! Me too!


I'm a big fan of Paula Deen!!! I don't think there is any show on Foodnetwork (or HGTV) that I do not watch ha ha


I love the challenges, those are cool. Dh and I watch Foodnetwork lineup on the weekends together, fun!


-


okay. thanks for sharing, i think.

Polkadotandflipflops

 

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-07-2003
Fri, 07-30-2010 - 8:25pm
Well, everyone makes different decisions. Having read many threads on another site about kids, allergies, and nutrition, I know that there are many moms who prefer to serve primarily gluten free foods to their entire families, rather than simply making a gluten free entree for the one child with the gluten allergy. It's certainly personal preference. Just like, allergies aside, when someone has a picky eater, they can accommodate that in many different ways. Making sure to include something the picky eater will eat at each meal or forcing them to eat everything or making separate entrees most nights or preparing one entree but different sides or preparing one entree, but offering variations on a theme. I think that some of these options are better than others for raising a child to be an adventurous eater as an adult.
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-10-2009
Fri, 07-30-2010 - 8:26pm

<<making them eat it or just have *fruit* for dinner is another. >>


Did someone suggest either of those things?

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