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 - 8:10pm

when sd moved in with dh, i made the mistake of letting him help me paint the walls. After he did the first wall,

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-09-2010
Thu, 07-29-2010 - 8:14pm
Oh no, lol Funny.

Polkadotandflipflops

 

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-07-2003
Thu, 07-29-2010 - 8:21pm
My cousin's mother-in-law was diabetic.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2000
Thu, 07-29-2010 - 8:27pm
I've had sweet tea before - my h.s. boyfriend's mother was from southern VA and used to make it all the time in the summer.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-02-2010
Thu, 07-29-2010 - 8:28pm

Why can't an adult *child* learn things on their own?


I never said *rent-free*. I said the adult *child* would pay rent and the parents would not tell them they were saving it for when they go out into the *real* world.

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-10-2009
Thu, 07-29-2010 - 8:31pm

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I have no idea why an adult child couldn't learn things on their own.

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-12-2005
Thu, 07-29-2010 - 8:44pm
What are all the asterisks for? Am I supposed to read those words differently?
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-02-2010
Thu, 07-29-2010 - 8:57pm
The adult *child* would not know it is going to be rent-free so they would be learning how to live in the *real* world by paying a certain amount of money each month, something they would have to do when they moved out of the parents home anyway.
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-10-2009
Thu, 07-29-2010 - 9:00pm

Again, that ony works for the first kid.


And, it wouldn't be indicative of the real world, because in the real world, you don't get a big lump sum of cash after you've paid rent for 3 years or however long.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-02-2010
Thu, 07-29-2010 - 9:14pm

The whole point of that is having your adult *child* pay for rent by going out and having a job, not just mooching off of mom and dad. The parents saving the money is a nice thing to do for their child when they do go out and rent or buy their own place. They will know how to pay their own way by doing it for the amount of time they have done it at moms and dads.


Yes, it might be a little *harder* to surprise the 2nd or 3rd child but it could be something special between each children.

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