Letting kids play vs clean house

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I never heard a eulogy for a mother that said "She was the best mom because she kept the place spic and span."

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a neat freak and I handle this by having an extremely satisfying system for organizing and putting away toys, games, art supplies, snacks, etc. And then I take great pleasure in putting the house back in order efficiently at the end of a day of play session. Sorting various building toys into their labeled and correctly sized containers before putting them back in the shelf. Oh yes. Gathering all the books from around the house and putting them back on the correct shelves? Thrilling. Packing the art supplies back away onto our “art cart” with alloys labeled bins and cups? Love it.

Think of children as a next level challenge to your neat freak ways. Then let them play all day and put your skills to work. Bonus if you can turn cleaning up into a game they too enjoy.

Also, even if this sounds like a lot of work, who is going to STOP THEIR KIDS FROM HAPPILY PLAYING on a chilly Saturday in November right before the launch of the holiday season. You know if you put away their toys they are just going to demand you entertain them, right? Right??????

Tell me more about this system. Is this what you do instead of relaxing at night? If I spend all my time cleaning after the kids are asleep, I never actually enjoy the clean house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I never heard a eulogy for a mother that said "She was the best mom because she kept the place spic and span."

I’m not the OP, but for me it isn’t about being the “best mom.” It’s about the anxiety that clutter and mess causes. I grew up with a mom who left crap everywhere. I could never find anything, never sit down. A messy house reminds me of that and I HATE it. It’s like someone else said up thread about having too much noise.

OP, I would have even fewer toys. Your kids will adjust and it will be good for their creativity.

[Anonymous]

My kids were taught to play neatly. They don't dump a box of toys on the floor to sort through - they dig through the box. When they finish playing with one thing, they clean it up before they play with another. If they spill something, they clean it up (or ask for help) right away rather than letting it set.

[Anonymous]

Op here - 6 and 8 year old sort of clean. 8 year old is best at it. 2 year old will literally dump every bin within 2 minutes of being by himself. He is a human wrecking ball (in all areas of life).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here - 6 and 8 year old sort of clean. 8 year old is best at it. 2 year old will literally dump every bin within 2 minutes of being by himself. He is a human wrecking ball (in all areas of life).

But this is the time to mold him - teach him NOT to dump things out. Teach him to put things back in a box. You have to put the work in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a neat freak and I handle this by having an extremely satisfying system for organizing and putting away toys, games, art supplies, snacks, etc. And then I take great pleasure in putting the house back in order efficiently at the end of a day of play session. Sorting various building toys into their labeled and correctly sized containers before putting them back in the shelf. Oh yes. Gathering all the books from around the house and putting them back on the correct shelves? Thrilling. Packing the art supplies back away onto our “art cart” with alloys labeled bins and cups? Love it.

Think of children as a next level challenge to your neat freak ways. Then let them play all day and put your skills to work. Bonus if you can turn cleaning up into a game they too enjoy.

Also, even if this sounds like a lot of work, who is going to STOP THEIR KIDS FROM HAPPILY PLAYING on a chilly Saturday in November right before the launch of the holiday season. You know if you put away their toys they are just going to demand you entertain them, right? Right??????

Tell me more about this system. Is this what you do instead of relaxing at night? If I spend all my time cleaning after the kids are asleep, I never actually enjoy the clean house.

No, it takes 10-15 minutes to straighten up the house at the end of the day, including toys but also stuff like mail, shoes and jackets, etc. that migrate through the house during the day.

A place for everything snd everything in its place. Make sure toys are stored near where they are played with. Make sure there are separate containers for each category of toy. Think about the surface in the play area— does it help small pieces stay in the play area (not roll across the room). Are surfaces conducive to quick clean up (i.e. tables with bins underneath for Lego’s, a smooth carpet that is easy to gather things off of, etc.).

And yes, purging items when needed and creating toy rotations (I store out-of-rotation toys in bins on high shelves in the toy area, and when it’s time to rotate out I just pull down a bin and trade it’s contents for one of the lower shelves).

It rarely takes more than 7-8 minutes to clean up toys and often I can assign parts of it to kids (“put all the dolls in the doll bin and make sure extra clothes go in the doll clothes bin on the same shelf”). DH also participates. We just do it all around 5pm as a transition to dinner/evening. It is not burdensome and I never clean kid areas after kids are in bed— that’s my time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I never heard a eulogy for a mother that said "She was the best mom because she kept the place spic and span."

I’m not the OP, but for me it isn’t about being the “best mom.” It’s about the anxiety that clutter and mess causes. I grew up with a mom who left crap everywhere. I could never find anything, never sit down. A messy house reminds me of that and I HATE it. It’s like someone else said up thread about having too much noise.

OP, I would have even fewer toys. Your kids will adjust and it will be good for their creativity.

Sounds like maybe you should work on fixing that instead of trying to fix your children to accommodate your problem.

[Anonymous]

Get treated for your OCD and anxiety

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I never heard a eulogy for a mother that said "She was the best mom because she kept the place spic and span."

I’m not the OP, but for me it isn’t about being the “best mom.” It’s about the anxiety that clutter and mess causes. I grew up with a mom who left crap everywhere. I could never find anything, never sit down. A messy house reminds me of that and I HATE it. It’s like someone else said up thread about having too much noise.

OP, I would have even fewer toys. Your kids will adjust and it will be good for their creativity.

Sounds like maybe you should work on fixing that instead of trying to fix your children to accommodate your problem.

I'm not trying to "fix" my children. I just don't fill the house with needless things and then leave them everywhere. They have way more than enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here - 6 and 8 year old sort of clean. 8 year old is best at it. 2 year old will literally dump every bin within 2 minutes of being by himself. He is a human wrecking ball (in all areas of life).

But this is the time to mold him - teach him NOT to dump things out. Teach him to put things back in a box. You have to put the work in.

Omg have you ever met a 2yo?

[Anonymous]

Dh is a neat freak. We have 3 kids. Our main floor has no toys. We have a playroom in the basement. I try to have kids clean up after themselves. We have a housekeeper/cook plus house cleaners. The kids rooms and basement don’t seem to bother Dh. Our kitchen area has to be clean and he cleans it mostly. Our living room has no toys. Our family room also has few toys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here - 6 and 8 year old sort of clean. 8 year old is best at it. 2 year old will literally dump every bin within 2 minutes of being by himself. He is a human wrecking ball (in all areas of life).

But this is the time to mold him - teach him NOT to dump things out. Teach him to put things back in a box. You have to put the work in.

Omg have you ever met a 2yo?

Yes. Several. And I don't give them access to bins of toys unless I'm okay with them dumping them all out. There were certain toys the older kids only played with when the younger ones were napping.

[Anonymous]

We purge regularly and I straighten up at the end of each day. It takes about 15 minutes,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I never heard a eulogy for a mother that said "She was the best mom because she kept the place spic and span."

+1000

Nope, but being mentally healthy is an important quality for any parent. If you don’t understand that this is anxiety-inducing for some people, then good for you, you aren’t a “neat freak.” You would never tell someone who got anxiety over anything else that their needs need to come last so…what? Their kids can have a million toys out? Most early childhood educators would tell you that’s not healthy anyway.