my poor little house going to ruin

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have 3 & 5 year old boys and they are total slobs at the table. A couple weeks ago, I decided I'd had enough!

I am trying a sticker chart with the following rules:

-- Say please and thank you
-- Chew with your mouth closed
-- Help set the table
-- Help clear the table
-- All food stays on the table (they don't throw food, but SO much seems to drop on the floor because they're not eating over their plates or whatever.)
-- And no tattling, so they don't try to sell each other out for breaking the rules during dinner

Honestly it's been great. I remind them of all the rules before dinner. The 5 yo is doing better than the 3 yo but that is to be expected.

This is wonderful!

I direct a preschool and our teachers in our 4s/5s room one spring (so most kids 5 years old, youngest 41/2 years old) noticed they were sweeping up so much food and plastic wrappers off the floor, and scrubbing the tables - it looked like a 2s room after lunch! So they measured and weighed what came off the floor one day with the children, then challenged them to be neater. They discussed what that meant: sitting straight at the table, feet on the floor when you eat. Being careful with your wrapper and putting it in the trash can rather than dropping it wherever. Eating and chewing, not pushing food into their mouths. And so forth. And then they said, we are going to be measuring the stuff on the floor each day for a month. If you can get it down to just a little bit (they defined it) then we'll have a pajama and make your own pizza party!

Well, darn but those kids got good at sitting straight, chewing with mouths full, putting trash in garbage can, etc. And they earned their pizza party a week early! But of course, 3 weeks into the project the good habits were ingrained and they never were messy again.

So good for you - 5 year olds are more capable, and your 3 year old will be more capable by the time he is 5 years old because of the 2 years of practice.

My nephew, at 16 years old, still has the WORST table manners. Teach your children young, they don't learn it by osmosis. I'll never forget watching a 12 year old eating pasta with his fingers, dipping pancakes in syrup with fingers, eating with his mouth full, etc. And leaving drips etc all over table cloths, placemats, tables, etc. YUCK! But my sister just never taught him. {and before anyone starts, NO he doesn't have any special needs, just never been taught}

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Get over yourself, OP.

Your kid are not tearing up your hardwood floor, or punching holes through the exterior walls.

Your house is not destroyed or ruined. It's messy.

Show them how to pick up after themselves. Assign chores. Punish for dribbles and spills. Use this opportunity to crack down and become more strict.

This made me laugh. The mommy dearest approach is always best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Are you using paper plates, plastic utensils and paper napkins? Fixing simple meals?

Most of the time. But there's only so much one can do when trying to work. Wait until distance learning is thrown back into the mix!

God is punishing you for using plastic utensils and paper plates.

Seriously, I so don't get this. The plates and silverware take like 2 seconds to chuck in the dishwasher. It's by far the easiest part of cleaning up. Disposable pots and pans would make a lot more sense to me.

Ehh...I throw paper plates in the compost bin with whatever wasn’t eaten still on them. It’s definitely faster than scraping off plates, rinsing they, and putting them in the dishwasher.

This doesn't even make sense because not all foods can go in the compost bin. Also idk what kind of home compost situation could handle a big pile of paper plates.

We have three trash cans with smaller ones inside sitting inside on old flowerpots to allow for drainage. There is a pvc pipe with some chicken wire between each can, so the worms migrate from one to the next. To any casual observer it just looks like garbage cans sitting on the side of the house.

I want to hear more about this! Do you add worms yourself? Holes in the garbage cans for the drainage? What is the chicken wire for, just to keep debris out of the pvc pipe? I have a cold compost pile in a corner of my back yard, years ago I had a sort of wooden bin arrangement at another house but never bothered here. It takes a long time for cold compost to get everything broken down.

DS added the worms. We ordered them from Amazon. There are holes in the inside garbage can for drainage and holes in the lid for air. And that’s exactly what the chicken wire is for! We put newer compost in a different bin as the first on breaks down. That way the worms migrate to the new bin, and we don’t lose so many when we harvest the compost.

[Anonymous]

Same. I’m manic about cleaning and my kids aren’t even dirty kids. But... house is trashed. Today I was looking at the wall next to my staircase and it’s so grubby. Food and dirty hands! The whole place basically needs repainted. Everything is looking just a bit shabby. I have a 2 and a 3 year old so the most I get them to do is put their toys in the bins.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Working full time with two kids at home is well, destroying my home. It doesn't matter how many dishes I do, how often I sweep, vacuum, scrub, rinse, whatever, these kids are tearing up the place. We hired someone to come in once a month to maintain this place for the sake of our sanity and still... the moment I serve lunch, we're back to square one. I've been telling DH to at least please make sure to serve them food outside while the weather's nice. But if we forget, we pay for it.

God bless those school janitors.

You allow their destructive behavior. L

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you using paper plates, plastic utensils and paper napkins? Fixing simple meals?

Most of the time. But there's only so much one can do when trying to work. Wait until distance learning is thrown back into the mix!

God is punishing you for using plastic utensils and paper plates.

+10000

[Anonymous]

Today I found a little pile of cable staples. The 3yo had torn them all out of the wall. He brought me the handle that opens his window. He detached it. Another day he removed individual globe lights out on the deck and smashed them with his bat. These are the kinds of things he gets into while I am doing the dishes for 10 mins. Can't take my eyes off of him. Drags furniture around, scratches up the floor. Throws toys, marks up the walls. Clean clothes in a basket? Dumped all over the floor. Etc.

[Anonymous]

I hear you.
We had a long term rental before we bought this house. Before we left, the property manager came through and found a bunch of little things that needed repaired to get the place ready for the next renters. I am thinking of asking him to come over to our house! I can’t even tell you what it is, but the place looks dingy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you using paper plates, plastic utensils and paper napkins? Fixing simple meals?

Please don't do this. You are creating more mess. Use regular plates and utensils and put it in the dishwasher.

[Anonymous]

My house currently is pretty clean and my yard is doing well too. I have grown up kids!

OP, wait for your kids to grow up and then you can have a perfect house.

It will be a disaster...until they go to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Working full time with two kids at home is well, destroying my home. It doesn't matter how many dishes I do, how often I sweep, vacuum, scrub, rinse, whatever, these kids are tearing up the place. We hired someone to come in once a month to maintain this place for the sake of our sanity and still... the moment I serve lunch, we're back to square one. I've been telling DH to at least please make sure to serve them food outside while the weather's nice. But if we forget, we pay for it.

God bless those school janitors.

You allow their destructive behavior. L

Maybe our fantastic employers will give us time to clean in between working and homeschooling

[Anonymous]

Get a roomba. Institute a 1 min speedy clean up after every meal (play a song, make it competitive, who can go faster) have them pick up any pieces of food on the floor put their plates into at least the sink, preferably the dishwasher. My 3 yr old can push a vacuum and I taught the 5 yr old how to do his own laundry. Have them help! Everyone wins.

[Anonymous]

Those of you with filthy houses are slobs. Stop blaming your children because they just copy what you do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My house currently is pretty clean and my yard is doing well too. I have grown up kids!

OP, wait for your kids to grow up and then you can have a perfect house.

It will be a disaster...until they go to school.

This. My kids are older now, the house is cleaner, and yet I miss the old days so much. They are only little for such a short while.

[Anonymous]

I find that the less stuff you have in your home, the cleaner it looks. De-clutter. A messy counter after eating is easy to wipe down. I have 2 kids and work from home full time now, I get it. Unless your kids are swinging from curtains and painting your floors, your house is probably fine.