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: 04-22-2009
Thu, 07-29-2010 - 7:58pm

i've got all of that covered.

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-09-2010
Thu, 07-29-2010 - 7:59pm

I agree with you.


I know how to use the lawn mower. I know how to paint.


My dh hobby is the yard & landscaping so he does it. He likes to paint, so he does it.


I don't know how to change a tire and I've been driviing for over 25 years.


Polkadots&FlipFlops

Polkadotandflipflops

 

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-08-2009
Thu, 07-29-2010 - 8:03pm
It is not as if there are a finite amount of things in this world to learn. There are many skills that I canot teach them that they have already learned on their own or from someone else, and I expect that to continue te rest of their lives.
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-07-2003
Thu, 07-29-2010 - 8:04pm
I am super jealous of my neighbor's peonies.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-02-2010
Thu, 07-29-2010 - 8:04pm
I think children should be taught that they *can* ask for help and that they do not have to remember 20-30 years ago what their parents tried to teach them. They should be prepared with other options then just what they may *know*.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-02-2010
Thu, 07-29-2010 - 8:06pm
But you have a *list* of things you think you *should* teach them before they leave your home?
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-22-2000
Thu, 07-29-2010 - 8:06pm

Joel doesn't drive yet (probably won't for a couple years) but he already has roadside assistance. It's not AAA, but the roadside assistance plan thru our cell carrier. (I was skeptical about it at first, but I've used them twice now and actually got much faster service than I ever did with AAA.) I like knowing that he's got that available to him when he's not with me.


Zombie-proofing.jpg picture by Lauren1063



iVillage Member
Registered: 01-08-2009
Thu, 07-29-2010 - 8:06pm
Yes, we have AAA and yes, the kids get a AAA card as soon as they get their licenses.
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-08-2009
Thu, 07-29-2010 - 8:10pm
Yes
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-10-2009
Thu, 07-29-2010 - 8:10pm

So, in one post, you talk about th ebenefits of adult children learning things on their own.


And in another you talk about how beneficial it is for adult chilidren to live at home and how parents SHOULD help them by letting them live at home rent-free.


Those two statements are incongruous.

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