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: 03-02-2010
Mon, 08-02-2010 - 2:49pm
Yes, good for a quick meal every once in awhile but I could not eat that stuff all the time like some do.
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-07-2003
Mon, 08-02-2010 - 2:51pm

So you think that what you eat has more volume than what Finally_Me eats? Is that what you mean by not enough food?

Like, if I eat 1200 calories of nuts, cheese, and potatoes, I'm eating a lot less volume than if I ate 1200 calories of lettuce, berries, and nonfat yogurt?

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-02-2010
Mon, 08-02-2010 - 2:51pm
Not Polka but my parents enjoyed eating too. I found my *food* soulmate in my husband as we love to eat together-lol!
Avatar for mom34101
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Mon, 08-02-2010 - 2:51pm

Not in everything, evidently.

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-22-2010
Mon, 08-02-2010 - 2:52pm
AMEN!!
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iVillage Member
Registered: 12-07-2003
Mon, 08-02-2010 - 2:52pm
That's what I was thinking. Neither of my kids was too impressed with cereal or most baby food, but ice cream-- heck yeah.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-02-2010
Mon, 08-02-2010 - 2:53pm
I guess what I am eating is just more filling to me.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-02-2010
Mon, 08-02-2010 - 2:53pm
Can you please explain.
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-07-2003
Mon, 08-02-2010 - 2:56pm
I guess I just can't understand how rice and beans doesn't seem filling.
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-17-2007
Mon, 08-02-2010 - 2:58pm
It is for 2/3s of the world's population - in some similar form or another.

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